Open in full screen mode Vito Rizzuto, the godfather of the Montreal mafia, sitting in a court of law, Téléjournal, August 17, 2006.< /p>Radio-Canada Speech synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from written text. 20 years ago, Montreal police arrested Vito Rizzuto at the request of American authorities. Our journalists were interested in the influence of the Rizzuto clan in the criminal activities of the metropolis and the decline of the Sicilian clan. On January 20, 2004, it was the big news of the day: Vito Rizzuto, the godfather of the Montreal mafia, was arrested at his home in his luxurious residence in the northwest of Montreal. Journalist Alexandre Dumas covers the event for Téléjournal.
The head of the Montreal mafia is accused by American justice of conspiracy to murder and murders committed in New York in 1981.
Vito Rizzuto would have participated in the assassination of three lieutenants for the benefit of the powerful Bonanno family which reigns over the New York mafia.
Loading
Specter of war: hospitals in Lebanon would not “last two days”
ELSE ON INFO: Specter of war: hospitals in Lebanon would not “last two days” Loading in progress
Specter of war: hospitals in Lebanon do not “ ;wouldn’t last two days”
ELSEWHERE ON INFO: Specter of war: hospitals in Lebanon would not “last two days”
The lieutenants of the Bonanno clan were preparing the putsch of Philip Rusty Rastelli, their leader then imprisoned.
Vito Rizzuto had almost always managed to escape Canadian justice. He was even nicknamed Teflon Don because nothing seemed to get to him.
On August 17, 2006, Vito Rizzuto was extradited to the United States, where he would serve his sentence. A 10-year sentence which will finally end in 2012.
Vito Rizzuto is extradited since the Supreme Court refuses to hear his case. p>
Shortly after the extradition of Vito Rizzuto, the police dealt a hard blow to the Montreal mafia with Operation Colisée .
In November 2006, Nick Rizzuto, Vito Rizzuto's father, and at least 73 other suspected mafia members were arrested in Montreal.
The reports by Davide Gentile and Martine Defoy look back on the extradition of the godfather and the history of the Rizzuto family.
It was in 1954 that the Rizzuto family arrived in Canada; the Sicilian Nicolo Rizzuto joined the Calabrian clan in Montreal then led by Vincent Cotroni.
The association did not last and the Rizzutos took control of the underworld in 1970. “The Rizzuto clan is linked to the powerful Bonanno family, one of New York's five mafia clans, as well as the Sicilian mafia. »
In 1972, Vito Rizzuto first spent time in prison for arson and fraud. In the late 1980s, Vito was accused of drug trafficking and got away with it twice.
He took over from his father as mafia leader in the early 1990s. He created links with criminal bikers and diversified his organization's activities.
That's what 'explains André Cedilot, specialist in the Italian mafia.
Vito Rizzuto imported the Cosa Nostra model to Sicily. Not only in illicit activities, but also in licit activities and that is what is worrying. This is the extent of the ramifications of the mafia in the legitimate economy in Montreal.
A quote from André Cedilot, 2011
On November 11, 2010, patriarch Nicolo Rizzuto, 86, was murdered at home in front of his wife and daughter by a sniper.
The year Previously, Vito Rizzuto's son, Nick Jr, was also found dead.
Nicolo Rizzuto's son-in-law, Paolo Renda, who replaced godfather following his arrest, mysteriously disappeared.
Agostino Cuntera, considered number two in the Rizzuto clan, was assassinated in June 2010.
Report by Jean-Philippe Cipriani on the murder of Nicolo Rizzuto. The 86-year-old patriarch of the Montreal mafia was shot dead at his home.
In his report presented to Téléjournal on 11 November 2010, journalist Jean-Philippe Cipriani mentions that the Rizzuto clan is clearly neutralized after the death of its patriarch and the imprisonment of its leader.
Vito Rizzuto returned to Canada in October 2012. He immediately regained control of mafia activities in the metropolis, but his reign was short-lived.
On December 23, 2013, he died at age 67 of pneumonia at Sacré-Cœur hospital in Montreal.
Ten years after losing its godfather, the Montreal mafia is today divided into several cells with different criminal leaders at their heads.
Vito Rizzuto's younger son, Leonardo Rizzuto, is considered one of the co-leaders of the Montreal Sicilian mafia.
He was the victim of an attempted murder in March 2023 and escaped with leg and shoulder injuries.
Start of widget. Skip widget?End of widget. Return to start of widget?