Motorcycle gang eyes Ontario,

organized crime report says

The Expositor (Brantford)

HAMILTON - A report on organized crime released Friday suggests the Golden Horseshoe could become a gateway into Ontario for the Hells Angels. The report states that ``a close associate'' of two high-ranking mafia members murdered in 1997 ``has emerged to take control of business in the Niagara Peninsula.'' ``This associate is closely connected with an organized crime family in Buffalo, New York as well as with the Para-Dice Riders and the Hells Angels,'' said the 1999 Annual Report on Organized Crime, released Friday by the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.       

GUNNED DOWN. Johnny Papalia, the head of the Cosa Nostra organization, was gunned down on May 31, 1997. His underworld lieutenant Carmen Barillaro, of Niagara Falls, was killed July 23, 1997.

Mob expert Antonio Nicaso said the report doesn't surprise him because it's a prime example of the changing face of organized crime. He said Papalia represented the old guard, which preferred to deal only with people within its own Italian-based crime group. These days, different groups are forging partnerships with Asians, Italians, Eastern Europeans and biker organizations, he said. Papalia, of Hamilton, was known to be vehemently against the establishment of a Hells Angels chapter in Ontario, the only province in which the bikers don't have a foothold.

August 21, 1999