Major Mafia players have been repeatedly targeted by mischief, arson or gunfire in the past month in Montreal and Laval, an unequivocal expression of a new wave of tension within organized crime. traditional Italian.

La Presse learned that the most recent event would have taken place on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, in Laval, in the street where lives Francesco Del Balso, former lieutenant of the Rizzuto clan sentenced to 15 years for gangsterism and importation of cocaine in the wake of the major anti-Mafia operation Colisée by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police carried out in 2006.

Two vehicles were burned in the entrance of a residence located very close to that of the mafia and the authorities do not exclude that the arsonist or arsonists were in the wrong house.

“Around 4:05 a.m. a call was made to 911 for two luxury vehicles on fire in a driveway. Our crime scene technicians went to the scene to investigate, ”described to La Presse the spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Laval (SPL), Érika Landry, who did not want to confirm the incident. hypothesis that Del Balso could be the one who was targeted.

Del Balso is suspected of being involved in the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto, youngest son of former godfather Vito Rizzuto, which occurred on March 15 on Highway 440, near Highway 13, in Laval.

He is also the subject of a major drug investigation led by the National Organized Crime Squad (ENRCO), headed by the Sûreté du Québec.

Furthermore, according to our information and a compilation made by La Presse, at least eight arson attacks, attempted arson attacks and shooting episodes that occurred in barely a month, between the end of March and the end of April, were obviously directed against the clan leader Marco Pizzi, present in Rivière-des-Prairies and Laval, and the one whom the police consider to be the street boss of the mafia, Davide Barberio.

In Montreal, fires reportedly targeted businesses or vehicles belonging to them, or belonging to relatives, particularly in the boroughs of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles and Montreal-Nord.

In Laval, three suspects went to the property of a relative of Marco Pizzi on Lévesque Boulevard, on the night of Saturday to Sunday last.

They were surprised by one of the occupants of the place and an altercation ensued.

“The suspects then set fire to one of the vehicles parked in the driveway of the residence and stole the other vehicle. But as they fled, two of the suspects in one of the vehicles crashed into a house. They were arrested,” Stéphanie Beshara, also a spokesperson for the SPL, told La Presse.

The two suspects, Kervens Raphaël and Raphaël Massé-Beauvais, both 20, have been charged with arson, possession of a firearm and flight.

It appears that individuals linked to the Mafia have hired guards to guard their property.

According to our information, the number of arson attacks has increased significantly in Montreal since the beginning of the year compared to last year.

About fifteen of them seem linked to the mafia, according to our information.