A new look into the inner workings of the Mafia is part of newly unsealed court documents associated with a recent international drug bust.
Investigations by the FBI in New York targeted alleged members and associates of the Bonanno crime family and Gambino crime family of the New York Mafia while a parallel RCMP investigation targeted members of the Ndrangheta in Canada exposing links between the criminal organizations. According to these court documents, the FBI was able to covertly record audio and video of an unnamed man believed to be a confidential informant being inducted into the Bonanno family during a 2015 ceremony in Canada. Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde said: “The recording of a secret induction ceremony is an extraordinary achievement for law enforcement, and deals a significant blow to La Cosa Nostra.”
One of the men present at the ceremony can be heard saying “The reason why we’re here is from this day forward, you’re gonna be an official member of the Bonanno family,” according to court documents. Reputed Bonanno family captain Damiano Zummo was cited as saying “From this guy, this guy, this guy, everybody approved it, so from this day forward, you’re a member of the Bonanno family. Congratulations.” The 44-year-old Cosa Nosa capo went on to say “You only answer to the Bonanno family.” He also introduced the man who was actually making the recording to a “friend of ours with the Bonanno s .”
Zummo has been charged with drug dealing, weapons possession, and loansharking and has been held without bail. He and one of his co-defendants suspected mob associate Paul Ragusa allegedly sold approx $40,000 of cocaine out of a Gelato shop in Manhattan. Ragusa was also captured on a separate recording offering to whack someone with an ice pick although has yet to be charged with anything relating to that statement. He is also being held without bail. These joint investigations into organized crime have shed more light on the ongoing connections between the mafia in Canada and New York. To get a mafia induction ceremony on video is certainly a new high for law enforcement and a new low for the mob!
This is def a new low I mean getting video of guys being made now is just well ridiculous to say the least. The Bonanno family has really fallen down to an all new low and that is saying a lot because they have been a mess for some time now. Perhaps this bust will shed some added light on what is happening in Canada as to the mob war and its connections back to NY if any.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bonannos are in on the attack on the Rizzutos. I don’t think they’re too happy about them going independent.
I just am not sure the Bonanno family has the stability or the muscle now a days to make that much of a difference up there.
I see your point, but don’t forget about the Giallanzo crew that was busted recently for running a $26 million racketeering enterprise. We wouldn’t think they’d still have crews like that either.
True it certainly is not impossible that the Bonanno family could have had a hand in things. I think it may be unlikely but you do make a good point being there is so much we don’t know.
Exactly, who knew that the Bonnano’s were coming to Canada to make guys, I don’t think anybody would thought that would even happen. There is so much stuff going on behind the scenes that we have no clue about because it’s very quiet. So who knows what else they are doing or did.
You’d think someone would’ve had the brains to find a way to keep that video from being leaked.
It is def another black eye for the American mob esp the Bonanno family which is a complete mess.
Didn’t this happen to the Patriarca family decades ago? What’s so new about it?
One was recorded on wiretap then but this is the first to be captured on video.
I think there was an ‘ndrangheta induction ceremony captured on video in the 80s in London Ontario.
They did get an audio recording of the ceremony for the Patriarcas. That was when Patriarca Jr. Was boss. Apparently he was not well respected and considered weak by some of the tougher guys from that family. That whole recording incident pretty much sent Junior into retirement early and I think he kinda left the Mob and went into Real Estate I read somewhere.
Under Raymondo Patriarch the Original. They had no major Rats 1950a —1989 but when the son took over and then Murder of Billy wild Guy Grasso. Underboss of Patriarch family then many Rats crawled out of the swamp ….PRESENTLY Carmen and Anthony Dinuzzio with MattY G…are doing Solid job of rebuilding the family
I really don’t get why any Canadian crews are bothering with the bonnanos again. Rat infested unorganized mess of a family. Vito had the right idea cutting ties. All the bonnanos did for him was land him in jail. Since massino they’ve been a joke.
Really is a surprise that these guys in Canada are still doing business with the Bonanno considering the shape that family is in. I can see the Gambino’s doing business there now because of these stability and international connections.
Ya Gambinos have long had a presence in Toronto.. pretty sure it was under their flag that Michelle modica was here during that whole scar cells disaster. It makes sense though that such a mess of a family is making anyone and everyone to bolster their ranks, but the quality of their guys is clearly pretty low.
This doesn’t just look bad on the Bonannos, but on La Cosa Nostra in general. Who’s going to take LCN serious when you have made men flipping everywhere, informants getting inducted, induction ceremonies being recorded, f*****g pathetic. They’re so infested with rats that you can’t even make a guy without him going in as one.
I guess they are looking for any allies they can get. I mean even though the bonannos are in a mess, id still trust them over any street gang, and they still have more money and connections. You have to remember all these canadian crews are exactly that; crews. The families have splintered apart into factions. When Vito was around, the Rizzutos were so powerful and large, they likely eclipsed the bonannos at the time (post massino). Now its all a big mess, and probably even the cotroni/violi faction dont have that many guys in terms of manpower. But ya, it still does strike me as a bit odd.
So why aren’t we watching it right now?!!!
I guess technically it would have to be leaked out for now since it’s evidence in a case that just hit the courts. I’d love to see it also but I dont think we’ll officially be able to watch or listen to it until the case is finished. The whole Canada situation is starting to make more sense to mw now. I never realized there were still younger Violi’s left up there. Naturally they would be motivated to seek revenge on the Rizzutos for taking out their father. Doesn’t seem like such a random power grab now.
That’s exactly why they try to take out the whole family. It looks like they missed two.
The violis were sent to Hamilton to live under the protection of their grandfather Giacomo Luppino when the Rizzutos made their push. And they respected that. Probably a mistake but then too it was a mistake to leave guys like Joe Di Maulo alive. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.
Yea I think being that it is evidence we probably won’t have any shot at seeing the video until after a trial or this case has been settled and then it seems much more likely to be leaked or just released by the feds. I
Yea like I mentioned before I didn’t even realize they existed. Knowing that now it makes perfect sense that they would try something once Vito was in prison and unable to directly defend his organization. As you said who knows how big a hand they played in the whole scheme is the question? I definitely couldn’t even speculate since this was the first I’d ever known that Violi had close blood relatives still around in Canada. I’m curious to know if the younger Violi’s are major players up there or not? The Ndrangheta seems like more of a group of smaller cells, some stronger then others yet still part of the larger international group? Almost similar to an Outlaw MC in some ways. I’m no expert on the Calabrese at all so maybe I’m way off base haha. It’s very interesting though.
Like the saying goes, revenge takes time. I wouldn’t doubt it if the Violis have a hand in the Rizzuto slaughter.
It would certainly make some sense and would connect some dots.
The Violi brothers have done a very good job of staying off the radar. Don’t even hear their names in the street really. I knew they were players of course but they don’t get the attention other groups get, for instance the Commissos.
The more time that passes the more prone I am to thinking that the attack on the Rizzutos wasn’t just one group. I think it was infighting ie the arcadi faction pushing for the throne, I think the Violi brothers definitely played a hand and I’d imagine the d’amicos did too, and the Commissos, and obviously the Desjardins/ di Maulo group, but I don’t think it was one single group making a push. I think it was multiple groups sometimes working cohesively.
A proper Power Vacuum for sure. Just a theory but the killing of Nicolo and Nick Jr Rizzuto I could see the Violi’s all over that one?? Who knows but it would be classic Vendetta there!
Ya or that was Desjardins. Ducarme Joseph was the shooter but whether or not it was his own doing or an order, who knows.
Articles in National Post, The Hamilton Star, and other Canadian papers along with the press release from the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of NY indicate that members of the Todaro (Buffalo) crime family were arrested in Canada. Are they talking about the Dominico and Guiseppe Violi?
Their Grandpa had ties to Buffalo… but they seem awfully young (47 and 51) to have any connection to the Todaro Crime family given most think Buffalo has been dead or on life support for years. Does this mean The Buffalo Family may be a little more active and organized than most have thought?
Also, if the Buffalo Crime Family is on life support, why did the Canadian papers and US Attorney go out of their way to mention them? They could have just said members of the Luppino Family in Canada where arrested.
Yes that seems to be who they are talking about in those instances and it seems they also became made members of the Buffalo family some years ago. Unless there are some others who have yet to be identified it seems more likely that the family still isn’t all that active in a traditional sense and simply has some made guys still hanging around. I guess the Violi brothers could just have easily been classified as part of a Canadian family as well.
From what I’m hearing they got Buffalo’s underboss when they arrested Giuseppe “Joe” Violi in Hamilton. Scuttlebut is Frank “Butchie” is the boss and Victor Sansanese is the consigliere. Is that even a possibility?
Have seen Sansanese listed as consigliere on a couple of occasions. Now as to Violi and Frank as boss/underboss I guess it could be although I have never seen mention of that anywhere else before so could just as easily be pure speculation and rumor. There have been reports that the Todaro fam was out and that they had moved on into their legit businesses.
Yeah, don’t know if it is just speculation and rumor. And like you, I’m not hearing much about the actual Todaro family except that Anthony Todaro is a Capo and took over his brother “Big Joe” Jr./”Pizza” Joe’s crew on the westside that when Jr. retired. Fino called this crew the Pizza Gang.
Someone who did the internment for “Sonny” Nicolleti’s funeral indicated there were a lot of “guys” from Canada in attendance and that a guy name “Butch” was shown a great deal of respect.
I think it’s a stretch to say the violis were made into the Todaro family.. I’m not sure the Todaro family even exists anymore. I mean technically papalia and barillaro were made into the buffalo family but they basically operated their own family. That would also mean the Violi brothers were members or at least associates in the papalia era, and papalia was a capo so that would mean they would’ve been in his crew, which I’m positive they weren’t as their father threatened to have papalia killed over using their name in an extortion plot without their blessing.
Technically volpe was a member of the buffalo family but short of maybe making tribute payments he was basically an independent. I think Magaddino just tried to have some presence in Canada because it was technically decreed his territory (short of Montreal) and he wanted desperately to keep Bonanno out of Ontario.
It’s probably just the press trying to make it sound more mysterious and widespread than it really is.
It could be, but who knows.Who here knew or even would have suspected that the Bonnano’s still had connections in Canada and we’re trying to/did make guys. Most people thought the connection was severed to Canada(rizzutos), and no one really knew about this Violi fiasco. So we can’t be sure about Buffalo.
Right at this point we sure seem to know a lot less than we may have previous thought, so we are kind of guessing more than normal it seems. So who knows what unravels by the time this case ends esp if they can flip someone else it could get even more interesting.
Question: did these guys actually get charged in Canada or the USA??? Point being that if they’re charged in America and have to face RICO then there could be a greater chance of one of them flipping. Being middle aged and having 60-70 years of US Supermax prison facing you definitely increases the chances of someone flipping. I know Canada has some type of tough on crime law but apparently its not as harsh as RICO.
From the info we seem to have so far the Violi’s were only charged in Canada now that could change as we get more and more info on the case. And I def agree being charged in the states would def be a tougher road for them with RICO than it would be in Canada.
It’s depressing as a so-called mob watcher that there isn’t any great recent Mafia stories with no rats in the picture. Or just a story where some mobsters pulled off a huge scam pocketing millions of dollars from some poor suckers. Rats rats rats. Sometimes I wonder if I should find a new interest. Like celebrity gossip or sports following haha. Fuck fuck fuck my life lol.
Why is N’drangheta dealing with LCN? The reason they’ve been so successful at avoiding prosecution is because they keep things within their blood family or family through marriage. Almost never do they deal with outsiders.I guess greed can get the best of everyone.
Not trying to tell anyone how to conduct business,BUT maybe it’s time to do what’s done when you’re an incoming Inmate, strip then squat ‘n cough. Why a Capo was doing this Induction is puzzling,but in no way should this infraction be his fault since The Boss would’ve been caught if he’d have been doing it.