ROB LAMBERTI, SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO SUN
TORONTO - There’s a lull in the Mob war between Montreal’s Rizzuto crime family and those who sought to overthrow it.
Ontario, which saw a number of hits in 2013, had one apparent vendetta hit this year, that of Carmine Verduci, 56, who was gunned down April 24 outside Regina Cafe on Regina Rd. in Vaughan.
The murder remains unsolved.
A police source says the vendetta spree that began in 2012 shortly after Vito Rizzuto returned to Canada after serving a 10-year prison sentence in Colorado for racketeering-related charges is expected to continue. The natural death of Rizzuto, 67, last December didn’t stem the vendetta.
There are apparently still a few “Calabrian Mob opportunists and Sicilian traitors” that need to be dealt with by the Rizzuto crime family, the source says.
In Quebec, it remains unclear whether this month’s ambush murder of convicted cocaine trafficker Antonio “Tonino” Callocchia is connected to the rebellious group that tried to oust Vito Rizzuto. The motive could have been street business, or payback for his involvement in the extortion of a woman connected to Rizzuto rival Raynald Desjardins.
Callocchia escaped an attempt on his life in February 2013 as he walked out of a restaurant, and police apparently had warned him he had a price on his head.
The Calabrian Mob, known as the ‘Ndrangheta, is considered by Italian authorities to be the richest and most powerful of the Italian crime syndicates replacing the still-formidable Sicilian Mafia.
But in Canada, it’s the Sicilian-based Rizzuto crime family that controls the underworld.
Rizzuto died a year ago in the midst of a vendetta that had been unleashed against turncoats and traitors to reclaim his stake.
Verduci was killed in a precise strike against him outside a cafe frequented by ‘Ndrangheta members in the city where they felt safe.
The message was loud and clear: For those who opposed Rizzuto, there is no safe haven.
In 2013, assassins struck in Sicily, Mexico and in Woodbridge.
The vendetta began shortly after Rizzuto returned home from the U.S. after serving 10 years for his role in a 1981 triple-murder of three Bonanno captains who were accused of planning a coup in the New York crime family.
While he was in prison, a group of Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta clans in Ontario and a group led by former Rizzuto strongman Desjardins tried to muscle their way to the top. One of the leaders in the group was Salvatore Montagna, who was born in Montreal, raised in Sicily and rose to prominence in the Bronx.
Montagna, known as the Bambino Boss and Sal the Ironworker, became acting boss in 2006 of the Bonanno crime family. Facing deportation after he was convicted of criminal contempt of court, he voluntarily left the U.S. in 2009. While being escorted to the border, he told his FBI handlers that he was going to retire.
He didn’t.
Bodies in Montreal began to drop in brazen daylight hits. There was a push to oust Rizzuto, and they struck not only at his organization but his heart, as Vito’s son Nicolo Jr., father Nicolo Sr., brother-in-law Paolo Renda and other close associates were murdered. It appeared as if the Rizzuto clan was being rubbed out.
But in 2011, Sal the Ironworker was whacked, allegedly in an internal squabble. Desjardins and seven others are awaiting trial for the murder.
When Rizzuto returned to Canada in 2012, the tide turned for good. There were some who had flipped their support to the new group that suddenly returned their loyalty to Rizzuto.
Those who picked against the Rizzuto side began to die.
The murderous vendetta swath in 2013 killed hit man Salvatore “Sam” Calautti, Joe Di Maulo and his brother-in-law Roger Valiquette Jr., and Moreno Gallo, who was in Mexico at the time.
Former Rizzuto strongman in Ontario Juan Ramon Fernandez, known as Joe Bravo, and associate Fernando Pimental were murdered in Sicily. They were shot and their bodies burned because they turned their back on Rizzuto, police said.
Verducci was the highest ranked ‘Ndrangheta member in Ontario who was killed.
His tentacles stretched around the world, with relatives in the U.S., Australia and South America. But he stayed home because of an Italian arrest warrant charging him with Mafia association, a non-extraditable charge in Canada.
Police described Verducci as an important figure with his own crew. While he was not a leader, he carried considerable influence within ‘Ndrangheta circles as a close associate of Carmelo Bruzzese, who is wanted in Italy for Mafia association and is currently fighting extradition from Canada for his alleged involvement in the ‘Ndrangheta.
Italian authorities say Verducci was the Canadian representative of alleged Mafia boss Antonio Coluccio. He also hosted functions attended by ‘Ndrangheta leaders.
Italian police captured him on a wiretap speaking with crime family chieftain Giuseppe “The Master” Commisso, who ruled a global criminal empire from a laundromat. Police described the Woodbridge resident as a messenger between the clans in the two countries.
A police source says it now appears that although Rizzuto was challenged, he never really lost his power.
“The ground was never lost,” the source says. Those who invited themselves to the table have been asked to leave, “in some cases, not quietly.”