The bloody Montreal mafia war has led to an estimated 35 murders and multiple attempts and attacks over the past few years.
According to this recent report from Daniel Renaud of La Presse leaders and influential members of the mafia in both Montreal and Toronto have been meeting in an effort to end the conflict. These meetings have been taking place since late fall according to law enforcement sources who have observed members linked to the Toronto mafia coming to Montreal to participate. It now seems like even the more hardened supporters of the former Rizzuto crime family are ready for peace although these efforts are still facing some opposition.
Stefano Sollecito who police consider to be one of the current leaders of the Montreal mafia seems to be one of the last members of the Sicilian clan refusing to concede to certain aspects of the peace accord. He refuses to relinquish control of the lucrative mafia controlled sports betting operation built up by the Rizzuto family. A law enforcement source was quoted as saying “Sollecito does not want to hand over the book of bets. There are current contracts on the heads of several people. It is he who is the cause of the continuation of the war.” The massive revenues from the sports betting operation have allowed him to finance other operations and continue to battle.
There are long-standing links between the mafia families in both Toronto and Montreal. Upon his return to Montreal after his release from prison in the United States in 2012, Vito Rizzuto first visited Toronto. For years under Vito, everyone seemingly worked together including the Sicilians and Calabrians. A new peace agreement could lead to a new mafia alliance in which representatives from the Ndrangheta clans, Sicilian mafia clans, and others would then work in partnership with the Hells Angel. This new alliance would mean an end to the costly conflict that has undermined organized crime in the region over the last few years and forgoes the need for a new leader to try and fill the shoes of Vito Rizzuto.
It would seem like this would be best thing for everyone involved as it gets things settled and back to business. If revenge was a factor in the dismantling of the Rizzuto’s then that has been pretty much accomplished and what remains is now a fight for power that seems to be hurting business. A peaceful agreement allows both the Sicilian and Calabrian factions to both have a piece of Montreal and together form an even stronger consortium it would seem.
I know it may seem petty, but I don’t like seeing the word Mafia in lowercase letters. Unless of course you’re talking about so-called mafias like the Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, etc. But we’re talking about THE MAFIA lol.
lol well I guess the Italians do deserves some capital letters considering all the history.
agreed since rizzuto in 1died, the recent phase of the Montreal war been about the famous PARIS sports book. earned up 26 million in one 8 month period. this is relatively low risk, law enforcments in Canada doesn’t pay much attention to sports betting. with that money you can finance other activities (drug trafficking). so i can see why Solecito doesn’t want to give it up.
Yes its such a large piece of revenue you could see why the Sicilians would want to maintain control of if but if Stefano is one of the few holding out have to wonder how long he can last before the rest of the powers that be settle it one way or another. Especially if it means a peaceful solution everyone else can agree on.
Why in the hell would you touch drugs when you make that kind of money? Greed is ultimate answer. Pure stupidity to me
I don’t think it’s just greed. If they didn’t get involved in drugs they would lose standing in the underworld. Other groups would move in, reap the rewards from dominating the drug trade and perhaps get the upper hand. That’s my thinking. Also some ask how come the Mob doesn’t become legitimate. If that happened then the Mob really wouldn’t be the Mob. Not to mention they’d be boring.
I guess. But to me, that’s just stupid. That kind of money can easily buy legitimate businesses. Look at joe Kennedy, the Jewish mafia, they went legitimate and are more powerful than ever. Now they control politics and banking. The real money and real criminals.
I agree the operating in drugs is not only about the massive amounts of cash it brings in but also the control of key territory. The drug business allows them to bring in enough cash and hold on to enough influence to keep a grip on areas they would likely otherwise lose to other organizations willing to do business in that key sector.
I understand, i just don’t agree. Lets be honest, is frank Cali more powerful than say Bill Clinton? No. Not these days. Politicians and bankers have the real power and they rarely do any time or get murdered. So to me, moving “legitimate” is the smart move. And I would use legitimate very loosely with regards to politicians and bankers. The appearance of legitimacy.
True, politicians and bankers have more wealth and power. True, they don’t have to worry about being prosecuted and are above the law. This doesn’t mean that they don’t do shady things (think 9/11 inside job). Also, just because something is legal doesn’t make it morally right. With that being said, there will always be the underworld, activities that are completely on the outside of the law, that must be exploited and controlled. Someone will always fill these demands, and this is where people like the Mob come in. Also, I totally see your point about why continue to take the risks with the law when you’re already making serious money.
I agree, the “legitimate” guys are usually worse than the gangsters. They still murder, steal, they just hide behind power. Certainly not moral.
I also agree someone has to control those markets, thus mafia, cartels, gangs.
More importantly, thanks for contributing to site! I love that dialogue is picking up a little here!
Anyone have any idea of what kind of money a good sports book is bringing in? In the Sopranos they mentioned something like 6k a week, and that was what I assume not a big one because they gave it to Christopher.
bookmaking and loansharking go hand and hand, the mob act as their own bookmaker, setting their own odds on bets. if they catch a big sucker who gets trapped and has to ask for a loan, the mob then act as a loanshark and charge a vig that is added on to the money the sucker owes them. it can be very affective for the mob.
How exactly do they do the vig, the points that is? I’ve always been kind of confused on this because it seems there a different ways you can do points and interest on loans.
When it comes to loansharking the vig depends on the loan and it is basically just a very inflated interest rate. You pay the interest on a weekly/monthly basis depending on terms and what ever ya pay over goes to the principle until paid off. Longer u take to pay of course the more lucrative the loan becomes for the loaner.
so it’s basically a normal loan but with just huge interest rates? Like how big are we talking? I remember watching The Sopranos and they were giving out loans at 3 points? Does that mean 3 % of interest has to be paid each month/or week on the principal until the principal or remaining principal is paid off?
right and most of the time that interest rate is usually paid weekly. the rate can really vary and get extremely expensive depending on shark and how much he thinks he can squeeze out the needy.
I took 5 k from a shark once was paying 220 a week in interest alone
It really depends on the set up and the depth of the client list and operating area but it can literally be in the hundreds of thousands a year in profits if not more and a ton more in over all volume. Most of the action is being taken off shore now and then cash often handled by local runners and agents who put together sheets of clients. Some operations are vast and are still very big money makers for the mob etc.
Well this one brought in over 30 million a year. Is that typical? Probably not. Like John said, most is off shore, online these days. I’m sure they have someone set this up for them, front the cash and then collect through intermediaries.
it will be very difficult for sollecito to hand over his gambling operation after seeing his mates get killed, but we all know he has only 2 choices.
Don’t know about anyone else but I’d “share” if it meant i could see my children grow up. Especially if the estimates of $15M-$30M per yr are even close to being accurate. Then again i love breathing