TORONTO: Two Canadian cells of a sprawling and powerful international Mafia organization were hit by police raids, the culmination of a two-year probe aimed at toppling the ’Ndrangheta’s stranglehold at the top of the criminal food chain in Ontario.
The joint forces probe penetrated unusually deep into the highly secretive and insular organization, mapping its hierarchy and structure, which could signal trouble ahead for the wider organization burrowed into the Toronto area since the 1950s.
Investigators were even able to document the existence of a regional “camera di controllo” — a board of control regulating activities and smoothing disputes of multiple like-minded clans — the National Post has learned.
Police say two of the men at the heart of their probe were the bosses of two separate clans of the ’Ndrangheta, the proper name of the Mafia formed in the Calabria region of Italy.
On Tuesday, Giuseppe “Pino” Ursino, 62, was arrested at his home in Bradford, Ont., in a dawn raid by police. He has direct connection to the leadership in Calabria of the ’Ndrangheta clan of the same name.
If Carmine Verduci, 56, had not been shot dead in a café parking lot in Woodbridge last year he, too, would have been arrested. He was named Wednesday by investigators as the other primary target of the probe and also a head of an ’Ndrangheta cell.
Also arrested was Diego Serrano, 66, of Vaughan, one of Canada’s notorious “cocaine cowboys” with a long history as a drug importation specialist. While not named as an ’Ndrangheta member, he was described as a “significant facilitator” for the ’Ndrangheta clans’ importation schemes.
National PostCarmine Verduci, 57, was shot several times outside Regina Sports Café in Woodbridge.
The last time Serrano was in police custody, in 1993, he arrived on a plane from his native Italy. He had been forced onto the flight in Rome by machine-gun toting police after authorities seized his sprawling condominium, which featured a two-storey penthouse, marble floors, gold trim, a waterfall and a swimming pool with retractable roof.
Codenamed Project Ophoenix, Supt. Keith Finn of the RCMP said the probe penetrated “the highest levels of the ’Ndrangheta operating in the area.”
It is a group, he said, that “tears at the fabric of society itself.”
This probe began after a national risk assessment identified the ’Ndrangheta in Canada as a priority for investigation.
Investigators allege drugs traveled to Toronto by plane from Jamaica and Costa Rica; or to Halifax by ship from the Dominican Republic and Guyana and then driven by truck to Toronto for distribution.
“Organized crime brings an element of criminality to our communities that is unacceptable and undermines the safety of our citizens,” said Insp. Mike Slack of York Regional Police. “Criminals involved in conspiracies, drug and gun trafficking and extortion brings to our communities unwanted violence.”
CFSEU/RCMP A 22 mm disassembled pistol seized during police raids.
As an illustration of the crime groups propensity for violence, Finn said the investigation revealed someone in the probe being schooled in how to collect a debt: He was told not to ignore the potential leverage from going after the target’s family and, if need be, to shove a gun in someone’s face.
Police seized three guns, about 8.5 kilograms of white powder believed to be cocaine, seven kilograms of marijuana and an unspecified amount of cash and five vehicles.
The ’Ndrangheta is the brand of the Mafia that was born in Italy’s southern region of Calabria. It is similar but separate from the better-known Mafia of Sicily, called the Cosa Nostra, that has featured in most of the Hollywood representations of Italian mobsters.
Carmine Verduci — the man who exposed Mafia’s ‘Canadian cell’ — was gunned down near Toronto
Former Toronto-area man arrested in Italy, called dangerous Mafia clan’s ‘most important personality’
Son of suspected Ontario Mafia boss charged after police fraud investigation
Man living in Canada is Italian mob boss, member of Rome’s anti-Mafia police tells deportation hearing
In recent decades, police around the world say ’Ndrangheta has eclipsed Cosa Nostra as the most dangerous and powerful Italian crime group and stands today among the world’s largest crime threats. It is built on a confederacy of like-minded clans, each reliant on family bonds to retain cohesion and make it difficult for outsiders, including police, to penetrate its inner sanctum.
In 2010, Italian authorities said ’Ndrangheta clans in Canada climbed “to the top of the criminal world,” by becoming masters of the global drug and establishing a “continuous flow of cocaine.”
The Italian probe’s court documents, translated into English by the National Post, said there were seven active ’Ndrangheta clans in the Toronto area.
CFSEU/RCMP Police seized 2.5 kilograms of marijuana and 7 kilograms of cocaine during the course of the investigation into the Canadian arm of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia crime group.
“Each of these seven families in Canada would be active in drug trafficking; extortion, only among members of the Italian community; gambling; and the making and marketing of forged material. Many of them have reinvested the illegally obtained money in businesses, including bars and restaurants, not only in downtown Toronto but especially in Woodbridge, which is the new Italian quarter.”
J.P. Moczulski for National Post Diego Serrano, one of the 19 men arrested for being part of the Canadian arm of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia crime group.
The Italian document said “an unbreakable umbilical cord” links the ’Ndrangheta in Canada and Italy.
In all, 19 men were arrested Tuesday from several cities, including Toronto, Hamilton, Vaughan and Oakville.
Ursino is charged with trafficking in cocaine, gangsterism, possession of proceeds of crime, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to commit extortion and other crimes. Serrano is charged with trafficking in cocaine, possession of proceeds of crime, trafficking cocaine and firearms.
Others named as co-conspirators are Marco Maone, 32, of Toronto; Zarko Djokic, 30, of Toronto; Carlo Fazzari, 41, of Hamilton; Antonio Agresta, 43, of Hamilton; Adam D’Andrea, 58, of Hamilton; Antonio Mediati, 66, of Oakville; Cosmin Dracea, 38 of Toronto; Adnan Mursel, 31, of Toronto; Jorden Kolman, 50, of Richmond Hill; Giuseppe Nesci, 58, of Woodbridge; Nicodemo Barbaro, 58, of North York; Giuseppe Scordo, 45, of Vaughan; Anthony Persaud, 26, of Toronto; Glenn Forde, 45, of Vaughan; Demetre Papadopoulos, 63, of Aurora; Richard Avanes, 44, or North York; and Syedmeysam Mir, 35.
