All Blog Posts Tagged 'Pierre+De+Champlain' (8)

By David Amoruso

The American Mafia, known as La Cosa Nostra, has always had a thing for using nicknames. “Joe the Boss,” “Charlie Lucky,” “Benny Squint,” “Benny Eggs,” “Tony Ducks,” “Gaspipe,” “Sonny Black,” “Sonny Red,” “Chin,” “Crazy Joe,” the list goes on and on. Why is that?

Just last week, authorities busted 46 leaders, members, and…

By David Amoruso

It seems the gangland killing of former Bonanno crime family boss Salvatore Montagna has been solved. Yesterday, at the courthouse in Laval, Quebec, six men pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of taking part in the conspiracy to murder Montagna after he sought to take control of the Mafia in Montreal.

The six men - Vittorio…

By David Amoruso

‘Ndrangheta boss Rocco Zito (photo above) was murdered last Friday inside his modest Toronto residence. Does his death signal the arrival of the new generation of Mafiosi or was it a case of an argument gone deadly? Though these and many other questions remain unanswered, one thing is certain: “The killing of Rocco Zito is the most significant Toronto…

Pierre de Champlain was born in Rimouski, Quebec. He is a former intelligence analyst with the RCMP’s Criminal Intelligence Directorate in Ottawa and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a general certificate in law. Published author of five books on organized crime, including "Mobsters, Gangsters, and Men of Honour: Cracking the Mafia code" and "…

By David Amoruso

“And like that, poof. He's gone.”

Vito Rizzuto, leader of the Mafia in Montreal, passed away today at age 67. He was hospitalized on Sunday for heart problems and was suffering from lung cancer. His death, of natural causes no less, comes as a huge surprise. Rizzuto was an enigma throughout his criminal career and had a knack for not…

By David Amoruso

The city of Montreal is at the center of a mob war that claimed its 14th victim last week when Joseph Di Maulo (photo above) was killed in front of his house. Exactly who is gunning for who remains unclear, but with mob boss Vito Rizzuto back in town after being released from a U.S. prison rumors are running wild.

Was it a street…

By Pierre de Champlain (author of the book Mobsters, Gangsters and Men of Honour)

© 2005 by Pierre de Champlain - All rights reserved.



Introduction



Italian organized crime has been in activity for almost a century in Canada. Members of these crime groups immigrated in Canada after the Second World War and settled in major urban centres such as Montréal,…

Special Agent in Charge George Venizelos speaking on the Gambino Arrests.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Callahan, FBI