For the past five years, Antonio Coluccio ushered guests through tall glass doors into his office on the ground floor of his million-dollar home north of Toronto, where a five-foot-tall oil painting of his father, a Mafia boss murdered before his sons were old enough to remember him, glared down at visitors.
On Tuesday, Mr. Coluccio was far from those comfortable Canadian circumstances and closer to the hard life of his father – fleeing through the hills of southern Italy, chased by police trying to add him to their long list of those arrested in one of that country’s largest organized-crime sweeps.
Among the 300 targets of Italian police, Mr. Coluccio, 40, is one of several men who called Canada their home, including Vincenzo “Vince” Tavernese, a long-time resident of Vaughan, the National Post has learned. More Canadian connections are expected to emerge.
About 3,000 police officers conducted pre-dawn raids across Italy targeting the powerful ’Ndrangheta, the name of the Mafia that formed in Calabria, the toe of the boot-shaped map of Italy. Police say the ’Ndrangheta – with its family-based clans around the world including a large presence in Canada – has eclipsed the better-known Sicilian Mafia.
The raids follow a devastating penetration by investigators who videotaped and wiretapped intimate gatherings of senior mobsters for almost a year.
“This is one of the most important operations against the ’Ndrangheta in recent years,” Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said. The organization was “hit in the heart,” he said, with a little Canadian help.
“The RCMP was assisting in the investigation and obviously they had success with it in Italy to make this number of arrests,” said RCMP Corporal Cathie Glenn.
Among the 300 people arrested are businessmen, government officials and police officers; about $80-million in assets were also seized.
Captured is Domenico Oppedisano, 80, named as capocrimine, a boss of bosses. His elevation to the role was decided last summer at a wedding for the children of two mob bosses, authorities said. Having a senior boss suggests the often fractious ’Ndrangheta clans are more hierarchical than previously thought.
The accused face a variety of charges, including murder, drug trafficking, gunrunning, extortion, criminal association and other offences. It is not known what charges Mr. Coluccio or Mr. Tavernese face.
The operation highlights the rich connection between mafiosi in Canada and Italy.
Mr. Coluccio has been fighting with Canada’s immigration officials for years in his bid to permanently relocate here.
He and his two older brothers – Salvatore and Giuseppe – are the three sons of Vincenzo Coluccio, who was murdered during a Mafia feud in the family’s hometown of Gioiosa Jonica, on Italy’s Ionian coast, in 1971. The father’s legacy had an immense impact on the boys despite his death a month before Mr. Coluccio’s second birthday.
In 2005, Mr. Coluccio’s brothers fled drug charges in Italy and arrived in Toronto. Salvatore soon disappeared but Giuseppe stayed, living under false names and taking a leadership role in the local underworld.
Mr. Coluccio came here also, settling in Richmond Hill, north of Toronto.
In 2008, Giuseppe was arrested by Canadian police and deported to Italy, where he was named as one of the country’s most dangerous fugitives. Last year, Italian police found Salvatore in a secret bunker in his hometown equipped with a generator, air conditioning and a large supply of food.
Both brothers were charged with masterminding a vast drug trafficking network.
Police allege that Mr. Coluccio took over leadership of his family’s organization from his brothers. He often shuttled between Italy and Canada. In Canada, he was seen meeting frequently with known organized crime figures. He was also often seen with Mr. Tavernese.
Mr. Coluccio faced no charges here but was told this spring he was ineligible to stay in Canada because he was believed to be involved in organized crime.
“Your close family members, including your mother and two brothers and other relatives, are known members of the ’Ndrangheta and have been charged with and/or convicted of ’Ndrangheta-related criminal activities,” said a letter sent to him by the Canadian embassy in Rome.
Mr. Coluccio challenged the decision in court.
Two weeks ago, he lost his appeal, prompting him to pack up his family – his pregnant Canadian wife, Melina, and their four children – and voluntarily leave Canada to comply with Canadian immigration officials, said Mendel Green, his Toronto immigration lawyer.
They settled in his hometown.
His timing was terrible, arriving back just as authorities were preparing for yesterday’s raids.
“There is no issue that his brothers are convicted felons and known for involvement in organized crime, but Antonio Coluccio has never been charged with a crime,” Mr. Green said on Tuesday, adding his client is tainted by his family’s notoriety.
He said he had not heard of any arrest warrant for his client in Italy.
“They tend to sweep with a pretty wide brush over there,” he said.
Mr. Coluccio owns a car wash in his hometown that he opened in 2000 and an apartment building, he told Canada Border Services Agency officers when arriving on an extended visit in 2008. The 1,500-square-foot building was erected in 1998 with money from an insurance payment.
“There was an accident in the pastry business and the insurance paid for the building of the house,” he told the CBSA.
Despite being ineligible to work in Canada, he carried 11 credit cards, six debit cards and cheques for four Canadian bank accounts.
When asked at the border if he had ever been involved in crime, he gave an emphatic reply: “No, no no.”
“If you are young and alone, some people think about it. But me? No. I have a family and we would like my children to grow up and learn English and Italian.”
Italian authorities said yesterday’s operation has “splintered” several important ’Ndrangheta clans by targeting their most important members, including the Acquino-Coluccio clan of Gioiosa Jonica (the clan of the Coluccio brothers); the Commisso clan of Siderno (whose boss Antonio Commisso was arrested in Canada in 2005 and deported to Italy); and the Mazzaferro clan, also of Gioiosa Jonica with ties to Canada.
National Post
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