Carmine Verduci (; May 12, 1959 – April 24, 2014) was an

Italian-Canadian Italian Canadians ( it, italo-canadesi, french: italo-canadiens) comprise Canadians who have full or partial Italian heritage and Italians who migrated from Italy or reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census of Canada, 1,546,390 Canadians ...

mobster from

Oppido Mamertina Oppido Mamertina ( el, label= Calabrian Greek, script=Latn, Oppidù, ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria in southern Italy at about northeast of Reggio Calabria and about southwest of Catanzaro. It is the ...

, Calabria, based in

Woodbridge, Ontario Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Highway 400, east of Highway 50, north of Steeles Avenue, and generally s ...

linked to the Greater Toronto Area 'Ndrangheta group called the

Siderno Group The Siderno Group is a criminal association in Canada, Australia and Italy related to the 'Ndrangheta, a Mafia-type organization in Calabria. The association is labelled the "Siderno Group" because its members primarily came from the town of Sid ...

. He also had a seat on the Camera di Controllo in Canada.

Criminal activities

Verduci was considered to be the 'Ndrangheta's transatlantic messenger, having "the task of travelling between Italy and Canada, acting as a carrier of news between the Italian group and the Canadians," according to police reports. On February 12, 2008, Italian authorities noticed Verduci in Italy at a meeting of the 'Ndrangheta. Verduci's telephone conversations were intercepted by police in Italy in 2008 and 2009, including talks with Giuseppe Commisso, head of the

Commisso 'ndrina The Commisso 'ndrina () is a powerful clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organization in Calabria, Italy. The 'ndrina is based in Siderno, but also has a branch in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada as part of the Siderno Group. ...

Siderno Siderno ( scn, label= Calabrian, Sidernu or ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy, about 3 kilometres from Locri. Some notable people from Siderno are Marco stalteri, Patrizia lunch ...

. On March 8, 2011, Verduci's name was one of 51 arrest warrants issued by Italian authorities for

mafia association In Italian law, Article 41-bis of the Prison Administration Act, also known as carcere duro ("hard prison regime"), is a provision that allows the Minister of Justice or the Minister of the Interior to suspend certain prison regulations. Currently ...

. Further, prosecutors named about 40 men linked to the "Canadian cell" 'Ndrangheta crime network; many with "operational links" to Italy. The charge against him in Italy meant he could not return there without arrest, but was not grounds for

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

as Mafia association is not a crime in Canada, nor deportation as he was a Canadian citizen. Police suspected Verduci was smuggling

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

assault rifles into the GTA, as well as having arranged heroin shipments from Mexico, and multi-kilo shipments of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

Death

Verduci was shot to death outside the Regina Sports Café in Woodbridge, Ontario on April 24, 2014. According to police, Verduci was a prime target for

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

assassins because he tried to encroach on turf which the

Rizzuto crime family The Rizzuto crime family () is an organized crime family based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, whose criminal activity covers most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) considers the family a facti ...

considered their own. During the fight to steal turf from boss

Vito Rizzuto Vito Rizzuto (; February 21, 1946 – December 23, 2013), also known as "Montreal's Teflon Don", was an Italian-Canadian crime boss alleged to be the leader of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada. He headed the notorious Rizzuto crime family based ...

, Verduci was allegedly part of a group that became involved with

Salvatore Montagna Salvatore "Sal the Iron Worker" Montagna (; 1971 – November 24, 2011) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss and acting boss of the Bonanno crime family in New York City, as well as the Sicilian faction-leader of the Bronx section. He had later be ...

, head of the

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verduci, Carmine 1959 births 2014 deaths Canadian gangsters of Italian descent Murdered Canadian gangsters Italian people murdered abroad Murdered 'Ndranghetisti Naturalized citizens of Canada 'Ndranghetisti People from the Province of Reggio Calabria People murdered in Ontario Deaths by firearm in Ontario