Suspected members of Mafia arrested
OTTAWA/ROME - Canadian police on Thursday said they had arrested nine suspected members of a powerful Mafia clan with roots in southern Italy involved in money laundering and illegal gambling in the Toronto area, seizing C$35 million ($26.8 million) in assets, including five Ferraris.
Over three days, police raided 48 cafes, businesses and residences connected to the group, nabbing the alleged boss, Angelo Figliomeni, and eight other suspects on a raft of accusations, including money laundering, defrauding the government and participating in an organised crime group.
Canadian police are still trying to track down one other man on related illegal gambling and drugs charges.
In Italy, home of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta Mafia, police arrested 12 people and sought two others in a parallel investigation for Mafia association, illegal weapons possession, fraudulent asset transfers and other crimes.
“The ‘Ndrangheta is a very dangerous criminal organisation,” said Fausto Lamparelli, an Italian Mafia investigator who joined Canadian police at a press conference near Toronto. “Criminal organizations recognise no borders.”
Figliomeni, alias the “brigante” or the “bandit,” has been sought in Italy for almost a decade and is appealing a 20-year jail sentence there. Because he is a Canadian citizen and the crime of Mafia association does not exist in Canada, he could not be extradited and was living comfortably in Vaughan, a suburb of Toronto.