Man slain in Pierrefonds was Mafia leader, police source says

MONTREAL A police source has confirmed media reports that the man who was fatally shot in Pierrefonds Monday morning was Andrea (Andrew) Scoppa, a man described by police in the past as the leader of a Calabrian clan that was part of the Montreal Mafia.

Scoppa was the brother of Salvatore Scoppa, who was killed at a Laval hotel this year.

Last week it was alleged that Salvatore Scoppa had been the mastermind behind the deaths of four men tied to the Montreal Mafia, including Rocco Sollecito and Lorenzo Giordano. Both men admitted they acted as leaders in the Rizzuto organization when they pleaded guilty to a series of crimes in Project Colisée, a lengthy investigation into the Montreal Mafia that produced dozens of arrests in 2006. Andrea Scoppa was sometimes at odds with the Rizzuto

organization but he was once considered an influential figure in the same group.

Another police source said that Andrea Scoppa was known to frequent the area in Pierrefonds where he was killed Monday morning. He owned a nearby condo in Dollard-des-Ormeaux where an attempt on his life was apparently made a few years ago. And, during a bail hearing in a case where Andrea Scoppa was charged with cocaine trafficking, it was revealed that he was residing at a house on Île-Bizard.

POOL OF BLOOD

The body was discovered Monday morning lying in a pool of blood in a parking lot near Harry-Worth St. in Pierrefonds.

The major crimes squad is investigating and police will examine footage from surveillance cameras in the area. The allegations that Salvatore Scoppa was involved in the deaths of Sollecito and Giordano came out of Project Préméditer, an investigation by the Sûreté du Québec that produced charges related to four homicides carried out in 2016. One indictment filed in Project Préméditer alleges that Salvatore Scoppa conspired to kill two brothers — Vincenzo and Giuseppe Falduto — along with three people who were arrested last week as well as a person who is not identified in the conspiracy charge.

The other person is only referred to as AI-26746 in the indictment. It appears to be a reference to a person who was secretly working under contract for the police while Salvatore Scoppa and the other people targeted in Project Préméditer were investigated. Postmedia News

KaYLE NEIS Montreal Police respond to a homicide crime scene on Monday. A police source says the man fatally shot is Andrea (Andrew) Scoppa. Scoppa’s brother, Salvatore, was killed earlier this year at a hotel in Laval.