Hot Laval mobster Francesco Del Balso, who is suspected of planning the assassination that killed Leonardo Rizzuto in mid-March, has known for a week that a bounty has been placed on his head for daring to kill the son of Rizzuto to attack deceased mob boss.
• Also read: Organized crime: The police take action against an ex-lieutenant of the Rizzuto clan and three influential Hells Angels
• Also read: [EN PHOTOS] Italian mafia: Leonardo Rizzuto escapes death in attempted murder in Laval
• Also read: Attempted Murder: Attacked Leonardo Rizzuto while his position was weakened
Hunted on all sides, the former strongman of the Rizzuto clan has been in hiding as a fugitive since police stopped him at Trudeau Airport on March 23 on an urgent escape from Canada, according to information from our Bureau of Investigation.
Del Balso, a specialist in extortion and illegal sports betting, had been advised by relatives in the underworld that his life was in danger and that he had better get out of there as soon as possible.
Screenshot, archive
Francesco Del Balso
Known for his impulsive and angry temper, however, the mafioso was already under police surveillance as authorities considered him a suspect in the attempted murder of attorney Rizzuto when he attempted to fly towards the city.
The police therefore arrested him and confiscated his passport to prevent Del Balso from escaping.
reprisals
According to our sources, the alleged motive behind this reckoning is a reaction to the attempted murder of Del Balso himself, also in Laval on November 7th.
ARCHIVE PHOTO, AGENCY QMI (MAXIME DELAND)
At least six shots were fired at the Lexus SUV he was in, but he escaped unharmed.
However, law enforcement had no evidence or leads leading them to believe that Leonardo Rizzuto could have authorized or ordered the armed attack on Del Balso.
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The police keep an eye on the latter despite his movements.
Seek
Del Balso was not at his home in Laval when police conducted one of the eight searches carried out simultaneously on Wednesday by the Sûreté du Québec, which is trying to solve the crime committed at the expense of Leonardo Rizzuto and the Squad National Organized Crime Suppression Organization (ENRCO) conducting an anti-drug investigation into three influential members of the Hells Angels.
As might be expected, the March 15 shooting, which Vito Rizzuto, the late godfather’s son, survived despite being shot several times, caused quite a stir in the highest circles of organized crime, both on the Italian Mafia side as well as on the part of the motorcyclists the Hells Angels.
Several meetings have been organized, within the two groups, but also between Hells Angels and members of the Rizzuto clan, as Del Balso is now considered by the police to be closer to bikers than to the mafia, our investigative office learned.
Our sources and police documents state that Del Balso was even closely linked to the Hells’ most influential Quebec member, Martin Robert, and to Stéphane Plouffe, the gang’s unofficial number two.
Hells Robert and Plouffe are also among the Rizzuto clan’s business associates, according to a 2021 report by the Criminal Intelligence Service of Quebec.
Coincidentally or not, Robert and Plouffe were also targets of Wednesday’s raid as part of ENRCO’s counter-narcotics investigation.
However, to our knowledge, this ENRCO investigation into the Hells and the search against Del Balso in connection with the Leonardo Rizzuto shooting are separate files. This suggests that the bikers would not be involved in the Rizzuto affair.
– In collaboration with Maxime Deland, Agency QMI
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