TONY MAGI WHACKED IN MONTREAL

Montreal once again is resembling the mafia of the 1980's New York City, then anything else.  We have been covering Montreal and Canada over the last year a great deal because let's face it, it's like the wild wild west in the great white north.

As we have discussed at length there is a huge surge of power going on in Canada, and it's not just in Montreal even if a lot of the murders we are reporting on are coming right out of Montreal. Hamilton, Ontario and other surrounding areas are also in the splatter zone.

What is happening in Montreal isn't to hard to digest.  It's simply the power vacuum left by the absence of the Rizzuto leadership.   The Rizzuto's who have been in power for some three decades plus have lost the edge to other criminal organizations in Canada.  Anyone from bikers, to the Calabrians(N'drangheta) have really put a strangle hold on operations.   It's an open market, open territory and fringe groups are all jockeying for position.

It's not to say the Rizzuto's aren't strong.  They are, but the power vaccuum left by the absence of powerful leadership has really put Montreal on edge.  It's really become a shooting gallery of sorts. Then Thursday happened.

Tony Magi, former real estate guru, and alleged mobster, with very close ties to both Vito Rizzuto and Nick Rizzuto(both deceased) was killed early in the morning on Thursday in Notre Dame.  The RCMP and investigation units are calling this a "mob hit."  While assertions aside, and allegations aside, this was not the first attempt on Magi's life.  Quite the opposite.  There were several attempts made on his life.  In 2008 Magi was shot at point blank range and survived.  In 2005 Magi was actually kidnapped and survived.  His wife was even shot at multiple times.  After several attempts Magi bought an armored car, and hired armed body guards to protect him, but it wasn't enough as Magi was splayed out with several gun shot wounds Thursday morning.  He was found, transported to the hospital where he later died.

What Magi's overall involvement with the mafia in Montreal is highly suspect, one thing is clear.  His ties to the Rizzuto's both financially are well noted.  He was actually arrested in 2011 on weapons charges, and it was Nick Rizzuto Jr who was whacked as he was leaving Magi's business back in 2009.

In either case, the simple question to answer is why?  Simply it's a power struggle.  N'drangheta has been trying to exterminate the Rizzuto's at all cost.  It's just not N'drangheta, but also the left overs from the Cotroni crime family who have never ever let go of the Rizzuto power play back decades ago.  In a Sicilian sense, this has all the ear markings of revenge.  Why Magi was killed, can probably be debated a million ways, but more simply it's en end to justify the means.  He was wealthy and had used his connections to push himself out front, and the reality is, he no longer was able to protect himself.  I don't think the killing of Magi opens doors for anyone, nor does it facilitate anything other than message sending.  The bigger question is, can the Rizzuto's hold out?  It's a question worth thinking about considering they have a lot of enemies who aren't exactly shy about killing you, or blowing your business up, or torching your business.  It's been going on for years now and it doesn't seem to be letting up.

A lot of pundits are speculating that the mafia is restructuring in Montreal, and the safe answer is yes.  But restructuring seems like a bow tie on a package to be honest.  Restructuring is a moralistic way of saying change, however this "restructuring," is coming via murder.  This is more of a hostile take over then anything else and as long as the pulse keeps going the way it is, I don't see it stopping.  Too many groups want control of narcotics, tobacco and more and as long as it's considered not operated under one family, or structured so that all can benefit, this will continue.  What will be interesting to see, is if the Rizzuto's can hold and tow the line.  It's not looking great for them, but perhaps what is needed is a leader whose feared and respected, and honestly that's exactly what's missing from the Rizzuto's.  If men do not fear you, the gates will fall when the villagers riot.  It's that simple.