Poor dude is catching hell up there


No worries Ciment!

What's it all aboot?

He doesn't seem to get the message.

http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/justic...ie-criminel.php

http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/police-investigating-arson-at-east-end-used-car-lot

This is the LaPresse & Gazzette version.

It seems they're going all in to get Pizzi or anyone close to him...

I figure he'll be dead before the new year or people will have taken over his interests.

Seems like Pizzi is the last one defending the interests of the Rizzuto-Sollecito faction. Perhaps these bombings are also linked to the fire of that restaurant.

I agree that would make sense.

Quebec court acquits man in Hells Angels slaying after key witness admits lying

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/quebec-cour...lying-1.3203637

Good possibility, December is usually a busy month for the hitmen.

You suppose they get a Christmas bonus?

As for Pizzo, I think that he might be some a sort of street boss for the jailed leaders of the old Rizzuto group who are still holding ground. They probably still have a crew of loyalist who pose a threat to the group trying to take over. I figure the restaurant set on fire might be their work and a message to the usurpers who in turn sent a message back by firebombing Pizzo's business.

Could it really be back to the basics with the old Rizzuto group aka Sicilian faction against the old Cotroni group aka Calabrian faction? With the latest developments it definitely seems like it. It wasn't so simple back in 2010 when it was a mixture vying for control.

It's Pizzi..not Pizzo

It should be an interesting 2017.

Do you think Pizzi is still collecting Pizzo?

You can consider it a typo given the proximity of the letters...

I know back then in 2010 it was more like a minestrone of different clans trying to out do the other. We're starting to see more clarity by process of elimination.

In 2010 it was a coalition of different groups against the Rizzutos that fell apart a year later.

It was definitely more of a broth in 2010 with various groups vying for control which have now over time been exposed.

What we know for sure is that multiple fire bombings are usually a sign of things to come. Come to think of it, back in in 2009 most of the attacks on cafes were considered rizzuto bars, very few if any di maulo desjardins bars were fire bombed.

Leading up to Spagnolos death...rizzuto headquarters were hit

The general consensus is that it was a coalition of Montagna-Arcuri-Di Maulo-Desjardins-De Vito that wanted to establish a new order and eliminate the Rizzuto leaders. That coalition fell apart in the summer of 2011 when Montagna conspired against Desjardins. The rest is history.

I agree with you that we're now seeing a similar pattern. However it needs to be noted that some of the firebombings in 2010 were attributed to Rizzuto loyalists ([BadWord] group). I figure they tried to keep control (by threat) of some businesses for drug trafficking purposes.

Nicola Spagnolo, the son of Vincenzo Spagnolo (who was killed this past October), has a contract on his head.

http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/12/14/un-contrat-sur-la-tete-du-membre-de-la-mafia-nic-spagnolo

Oh shit. So it's looking like it's back to the basics after all with the Cotroni-Rizzuto group going head to head for control of the Montreal Mafia. At least thats what it looks like. I think the imprisonment of other guys whom were speculated to be involved in this over drug offenses, like the Scoppa's, cleared the way for this to happen. It seems like the remnants of the old Rizzuto & Cotroni groups (I guess you can group Arcadi up with them now), is the only ones left on the street, and they aren't going to stop until the other side is completely wiped out. That's just my theory of course.

A lot of armchair quarterbacking on this thread.

As a one famous song said......Let it go, let it go...lol

In all seriousness, first the father now this dude and Pizzi, it's just a matter of time before they get to you.

I figure it had to happen sooner or later, they were just biding their time. With all these killings the new order set up after Vito Rizzuto's death was always an uneasy alliance. There was no clear, undisputed leader which suggests that they weren't prepared for Rizzuto's death. It's pretty amazing how fate can unfold and the unpredictability of events could make this a Game of Thrones 'Montreal Mafia special' episode.

If the Rizzuto side/loyalists survive this there is nothing that can take them out of power

http://aboutthemafia.com/nicola-spagnolo-now-a-target-in-the-ongoing-montreal-mafia-war

http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2016/12/14/un-contrat-sur-la-tete-du-membre-de-la-mafia-nic-spagnolo

Nicola Spagnolo now a target.

That was always the case, even when this whole thing started, it's just that people got confused because Montagna was in the picture and for a split second people thought that perhaps the Bonnanos were making a come back, when the truth was that Montagna was simply deported and he had no other choice but to get involved in Montreal to stay relevant. The mistake he made was he underestimated the power Desjardins had, he also thought that his Bonnano status actually meant something to these guys when the reality was that it did not matter much. He would have fared better if he just stuck with the alliance he made with the Cotroni guys and just be part of them, I mean he still would've been targeted by Vito once he got out but he would have had a better chance of surviving and staying relevant in the game had he stuck with those guys.

Anyways, while the picture does involve other external factors such as the Toronto Calabrian clans and the Contrera-Caruana clan, the root of the problem goes back to the beef between Nicolo Rizzuto and Paolo Violi, plain and simple. When the Rizzuto family took out the Violi brothers the Montreal group was still under the Bonnano banner. The Bonnanos gave the OK because Nicolo Rizzuto was heavily connected and close to the Sicilians, who were not only the main importers of narcotics, but also at the top of their game, this was a time where the Sicilian LCN was the most powerful Mafia out of Italy, not the 'Ndrangheta, it was also a time where the American LCN was declining heavily, so the Bonnanos basically did not want to risk messing with the Rizzutos nor did they want to lose the cash they were bringing in. Vic Cotroni had no choice but to give his blesssing, he was an old man and just wanted peace, if it meant taking out his protege so be it, the Rizzutos were way too powerful and were on their way to becoming the most powerful group out of Canada. Once the Violis were out, the Rizzuto faction stopped the war because the Cotronis backed out peacefully and agreed to give them the leadership of the group.

When the Rizzutos took over, Nicolo focused on his Sicilian connections and importing narcotics out of South America, while Vito was left to control the group in Montreal. At the time Southern Ontario (Toronto and Hamilton) was pretty much under the control of the Buffalo Mob, independent families did operate there of course such as the Calabrian clans of Toronto along the Luppinos and Musitanos out of Hamilton, but everyone played by the rules of Stefano Magaddino. Well when the Rizzutos took over, Magaddino was gone and the American LCN was pretty much in decline. The first move out of Montreal was to simply recruit Peter Scarcella and have him be their main representative in Toronto, those of you who don't know Scarcella, he was a Sicilian mobster that at one point was the driver for Paul Volpe, a Toronto mobster that was a made guy in the Buffalo Mob. Volpe was only a solider but he did have his own crew in Toronto so he was considered somewhat of a boss, when he got killed, it was Scarcella that took over that group which still exists today I believe. With Scarcella representing Vito in Toronto, and the Contrera-Caruana clan also operating there, the Rizzuto influence over the city was set. Their next sight was Hamilton, though this was a tougher task since John Papalia was actually a capo and he had a whole crew that was powerful there, also the Luppinos operated there who were Rizzuto enemies since Paolo Violi was married to the daughter of don Giacomo Luppino. So it seems like the Rizzutos waited til the 90's to make their move, this was a time where the Musitano family was rising, the Papalias and the Luppinos were declining, so Vito likely gave the order to take out the heads of the Papalia crew and pretty much made the Musitanos as his representives in Hamilton.

Business was good until Vito went to jail, but I should also say that going to jail or not this war would have still happened, why? Because of Violi's sons, plain and simple. These guys are pretty much the heads of the Luppino family in Hamilton, they're young and hungry for revenge and power, they're the main culprit of this whole war. They have good relations with the Toronto clans who are pretty much the most powerful today, they're backing the Cotroni group because their dad was in that faction, and they're likely driving the Musitanos out of power in Hamilton. If Leonardo Rizzuto wants a target, it should be these guys, I mean he may still have to deal with the Cotroni loyalists in Montreal, but so long as the Violis live, they'll always take out any Rizzuto man standing.

A good question is where does Arcadi stand in all of this? There was rumors that when he gets out he was going to make a run for it and take power away from this new leadership table. Seeing how Cotroni loyalists are taking anyone that was connected to Vito out, Acradi should rethink his plans carefuly, he's probably better off joining up with Rizzuto/Sollecito if he wants to survive, because I'm not sure the other side is interested in having him.

Brona good recap.

In the late 1970s or even the 80s the New York families weren't that much in decline yet and still very powerful. Their real decline started in the 90s. However, for the Bonannos the 90s were a good time and it wasn't until their entire administration flipped that everything fell apart. Montagna's status meant enough for people to align with him. However Desjardins himself didn't have much to do with the Bonannos at that point and neither did his guys which is why they didn't care for him to be the leader, and when Montagna tried to take out Desjardins it was simply kill or be killed.

@Bronazora


+100

Good post, you get the importance of the drugs. And the position Sicily had at the time, in the WORLD, not just the US, and Canada.

And your take on it jives with the opinion of Lee Lamothe, one of the authors of Sixth Family. In the mafia books thread, he said you would have to be dumb to see all this aggression vs the Rizzutos as anything but a vendetta...

Great summary there and it seems to represent the situation quite well. I'd like to add that the Violis aren't the only ones seeking revenge, many montreal players were waiting for the Rizzuto empire to crumble. Desjardins best friend Bartolo had been murdered by the clan and some would argue the true violence started at that point.

The Violi angle is becoming more and more apparent it seems. It would make sense for theme to want the Rizzuto clan dead at all costs but they need support for that....the Hamilton mob on its own can't guarantee that kind of decision. They most likely have the blessing and support of the ndrangheta including nyc in the mix.