T.O. mob not slick enough for Montreal

The SpectatorHamilton, Ont.: Nov 24, 2006. pg. A.3

A mob expert has dismissed speculation that mafia influence will grow in the Toronto area in the wake of this week's arrests of prominent underground figures in Montreal.

Antonio Nicaso says the GTA-area mafia are not organized enough to be like their counterparts in Montreal.

"I don't think they have the people to deal with a complex reality like Montreal," he said yesterday. "Toronto mafia are local people with not a lot of credentials -- not a lot of profile to take over the Montreal market."

Meanwhile, the head of Montreal's multi-agency organized crime unit said more charges will almost surely follow as investigators sift through evidence obtained in a series of raids on the homes and businesses of suspects -- including four grocery stores and a technology firm. Seventeen of 90 people identified as suspects remain at large. Two of the accused live in the GTA.

Part of the probe was related to the smuggling of cocaine into North America through the port of Newark, N.J., and Montreal's airport.