Bensonhurst, what makes you think that corrupt beat cops who haven't been able to make a bust are any more reliable than the feds? If you want to discredit the feds, fine, but what would we know without them? 90% of the information online about the Mafia comes from the feds. Wiretaps, busts, surveillances, informants... all the work of the feds. If you want to discredit the feds than you can discredit most of what we know about Buffalo's mob history. We only know about Joe Todaro Jr.'s closeness to Pete Capitano due to the feds, since the feds wiretapped Todaro's restaurant and caught him talking about Gerace and Capitano? That's just one example from this thread. When the feds caught Todaro Jr. talking about Capitano in 1990, that was good enough for you guys, but now when they call Local 210 an "aggressive but clean" union, that isn't enough for you?
Nicky, I really haven't gotten involved with all that between you and Rooster, Because honestly I don't know
I know what I know locally from experience I skimmed through the book that I posted "DI-CARLO" for the recent arrests I have done some internet research not typically my thing not reaaly good at it but I gave it a try.
This is what I have found out-------------------------------------------------------------------------:
The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family and The Arm,[1] is an Italian American Mafia crime family based in Buffalo, New York, United States. The family operated throughout Western New York, Ontario, Canada and Erie, Pennsylvania.
History:
The Buffalo crime family gained power during the Prohibition era through bootlegging. In 1931, the family boss, Stefano Magaddino, became an original member of The Commission. The family remained strong and relatively united until his leadership was challenged in the 1960s. It then split into factions as they tried to assassinate him; the internal war continued after his death from natural causes on July 19, 1974.[2] The internecine warfare ended in the early 1980s when Joseph Todaro Sr. became the boss.[3] Todaro united the family and retired in 2006, leaving many in law enforcement to believe Leonard Falzone had taken his place.[4] However, others thought he was only acting as the "front boss" for the Todaros and that Joseph Todaro Jr. was the acting boss while his father became the senior statesman for the family.
The Buffalo crime family's main front operation was Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 210. Over the course of the later part of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st, the Buffalo crime family declined in influence. Factors included older members slowly turning away from the organization, younger Italian-Americans showing no interest in its operations, an 11-year federal operation that forced the family out of Local 210 between 1995 and 2006, introduction of the New York Lottery depriving the family of a major revenue source (illegal gambling revenue), and the rise of Joe Todaro Jr.'s legitimate pizzeria business. In a March 2017 feature article The Buffalo News reported "The Mafia is all but dead in Western New York," noting that a few widely scattered remnants that are no longer believed to be active or organized remain.[5]
However Matt Gryta, crime reporter for The Buffalo News, points out many believe the Magaddino Crime Family has "expanded into the new millennium through telemarketing, pump and dump stock scams and internet pornography with the “family†expanding its operations nationwide." [6]
In November 2017 the US Justice Department and Canadian newspapers indicate the family is still active. The Toronto Star states that Giuseppe (Joe) and Domenico Violi, who have longstanding ties to the Buffalo Mob, were arrested on narcotics trafficking charges.[7]
These charges indicate a continuation of the long established mafia drug trafficking rectangle from Toronto/Hamilton to Buffalo and Montreal to NYC established by Stefano Magaddino and his cousin Joseph Bonanno.[8] [9] Additionally, Metro News Toronto Edition writes:
“The arrests also hit members of the Buffalo crime family headed by the late Joe Todaro.[10] †The Justice Department’s Eastern New York District said in November 2017 that Canadian law enforcement authorities had arrested various members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Todaro crime families on charges that include narcotics trafficking.[11] In response to these arrests Canadian journalist Adrian Humphries wrote:
Among those arrested in Canada are members of the Todaro organized crime family, based in Buffalo, according to U.S. authorities. The Todaro crime group was built by the now-deceased Joseph Todaro Sr., who took over the Buffalo Mafia once led by the influential boss Stefano (The Undertaker) Magaddino.[1