Musitano crime family

Musitano crime family
Founded1940s
Founded byAngelo Musitano
Founding locationHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Years active1940s–present
TerritoryVarious neighbourhoods in Hamilton and Toronto; in Delianuova and Platì in Calabria, Italy; and Buccinasco and Bareggio in Milan
EthnicityPeople of Italian descent as "made men", and other ethnicities as "associates"
Criminal activitiesRacketeering, loan sharking, money laundering, fraud, prostitution, murder, gambling, drug trafficking, smuggling, extortion and corruption
AlliesRizzuto crime family
Independent Soldiers[1]
West End Gang
Hells Angels
Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan
Various other crime families and gangs
RivalsPapalia crime family
Various gangs over Canada including their allies

The Musitano crime family (Italian: [muziˈtaːno]) is a 'Ndrangheta organized crime family[2] based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, as well as Platì in Southern Italy and Buccinasco and Bareggio in Northern Italy.[3] Founded by Angelo Musitano in Canada in the 1940s, the family was one of three centralized Mafia organizations in Hamilton, with the other two being the Luppino crime family and the Papalia crime family.[4] Unlike the other two Hamilton families, the Musitanos did not form a strong alliance with the Buffalo crime family, staying closer to their 'Ndrangheta cell.[2]

The killings of Johnny Papalia and his lieutenant Carmen Barillaro in 1997, ordered by brothers Angelo and Pat Musitano, had effectively wiped out the family's remaining leaders in Canada.[5] One news report stated that the events of 1997 "decapitated the Papalia family."[6] The brothers were arrested and sentenced in 2000 and then released in 2006. A power struggle within the Hamilton mafia had been the result of several attempts made on Pat's life in the 2010s; Angelo was killed in 2017 and, finally, Pat was killed in 2020.

  1. ^ "Alleged gangster's Oakville paradise: The undercover ruse". InsideHalton.com. 6 January 2023. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b Humphreys 1999, p. 262.
  3. ^ "M5s, a Sedriano candidato amico di famiglia mafiosa. Gaetti (Commissione antimafia): "Faccia passo indietro"" (in Italian). ilfattoquotidiano.it. November 11, 2015. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  4. ^ "Unease as mobsters set free". National Post. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  5. ^ "Hamilton mobster changed Niagara's underworld". The Standard. 26 April 2019. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Reputed mobster Pat Musitano fights for life after shooting". Toronto Sun. 30 April 2019. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.