Italian authorities carried out raids they described as “Canadian Ndrangheta Connection 2” against the Mafia in Southern Italy on Friday morning.
Twenty-eight alleged mobsters were charged with various crimes including many residents from the Greater Toronto Area. Italian police said those charged were among the top management of the Figliomeni family and the Muia crime family of the Ndrangheta. According to Italian authorities, the arrests were part of an operation against “crimes of transnational and armed Mafia association, port and illegal possession of weapons, fraudulent transfer of values, abusive exercise of credit, usury and personal facilitation.” This was the second phase of Project Sindicato which took down leading members of the Figliomeni crime family from Canada and Italy earlier this year.
“Canadian Ndrangheta Connection 2”
According to the York Regional Police, the Figliomeni family was the most significant Ndrangheta crime family operating in York Region. The eighteen-month long investigation led to multiple arrests and the seizure of millions of dollars in assets. York Regional Police Chief Eric Jolliffe said following the arrests “We have dismantled the financial structure of this organized crime operation, both here and in Italy.” Among those arrested was Angelo Figliomeni the alleged head of the Calabrian mafia linked organization.
Among the GTA residents charged in the latest raid were Francesco Commisso the alleged head of the local Ndrangheta in Siderno and a Canadian arm, Angelo (Angelino) Figliomeni, Rocco Remo Commisso, Giuseppe (Joe) De Maria, Michelangelo Archina, Antonio Figliomeni, Cosimo Figiomeni, and Luigi Bishop. Others arrested included Vincenzo Muià a leading figure in the Muia clan, Giuseppe Gregoraci, and Michele Carabetta.
Fausto Lamporelli of the Italian state police said in a previous news conference that “The criminal organization known as the ’Ndrangheta knows no boundaries, It has no political or physical boundaries. They are a very powerful and violent group.” The Ndrangheta in Canada which operates mainly out of the Greater Toronto Area has become one of the countries most powerful criminal organizations.
