The police take action against an ex-lieutenant of the Rizzuto clan and three influential Hells Angels.
• Also read: ON PHOTOS | Leonardo Rizzuto victim of attempted murder
A former leader of the Rizzuto clan and three influential Hells Angels are the target of police raids on Wednesday, the first in connection with the latest assassination attempt at the expense of mafia co-boss Leonardo Rizzuto, while bikers are targeted in a wide-ranging investigation Anti-Drug Investigation.
Police officers from the National Organized Crime Repression Squad (ENRCO) have been conducting a series of searches at properties linked to the suspects in the greater Montreal area and up to the Laurentians since Wednesday morning to collect evidence to support both of these investigations.
According to information from our Bureau of Investigation, the three bikers targeted by ENRCO for drug trafficking offenses are not the last to emerge. On the other hand.
They’re Martin Robert, unofficially dubbed the number one biker gang, Stéphane Plouffe and Michel Lamontagne, all respected members of the Montreal chapter of the Hells Angels.
Martin Robert | Photo: Joël Lemay, Agency QMI
Police consider Martin Robert to be the most influential of all Québec Hells since his glittering and high-profile wedding in a downtown Montreal ballroom in December 2018.
Stéphane Plouffe, nicknamed “Buttock”, with whom Robert learned his trade at the Death Riders, the club of the defunct Laval school, is often cited as one of the gang’s three most powerful standard-bearers in the province.
Lamontagne, who was promoted to a distinguished member of the Hells in 2020 during the pandemic, is said to be Robert’s “right hand man”.
Robert, Plouffe – who officiated at Robert’s marriage to Annie Arbic, daughter of drug dealer Sharon Simon – and Lamontagne worked closely together at the forefront of a lucrative trafficking network primarily active on Montreal’s North Shore and the Laurentides region. Based on our information.
Stéphane “Fess” Plouffe, member of the Montreal Chapter’s Hells Angels. Photo taken during SharQc operation
The most explosive case of the day, however, involves a longtime mafioso known for his antics and fiery personality. According to our sources, this is Francesco Del Balso, whose home in Laval also has to be visited by ENRCO police officers.
It is he whom police suspect had the courage to order the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto, son of the late godfather Vito Rizzuto, on March 15 in Laval.
The 53-year-old lawyer narrowly escaped death after being shot while driving his Mercedes SUV, which was riddled with eight bullet holes.
Leonardo Rizzuto, who police still consider a leader of the Montreal Mafia since the death of his famous father in December 2013, was hit by multiple projectiles and reportedly broke his leg.
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. At least six shots were fired in the direction of the Lexus SUV he was in, but he escaped unharmed.
However, according to our sources, the police have no evidence or clues that would lead them to believe that Leonardo Rizzuto could have authorized or ordered the armed attack on Del Balso.
A 2021 report prepared by the Quebec Criminal Intelligence Service and made available to our Bureau of Investigation identified him alongside Leonardo Rizzuto as one of the five “Administrators” at the head of the Rizzuto clan.
In addition, Del Balso was among the five leaders of the Rizzuto clan arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Operation Coliseum in 2006, along with Leonardo Rizzuto’s grandfather Nicolo. The man, nicknamed “Chit”, who was described at the time as the “strongman” of the Sicilian faction of the mafia, had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for gangsterism.
Mafioso Francesco Del Balso | Photo: Courtesy
Del Balso, who turns 53 next month, is now closer to the bikers than the mafia, according to our information.
It is also in the wake of Hells Angels Martin Robert, Stéphane Plouffe and Michel Lamontagne. According to our information, however, these were not targeted during the searches carried out this Wednesday as part of the investigation into the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto.
The names of Martin Robert and Stéphane Plouffe were among the motorcyclists “associated” with the Rizzuto clan in the 2021 deal, according to the Service du Reconnaissance Criminal du Québec report to which our investigative office had access.
Del Balso sat with Hells Robert, Plouffe and Lamontagne at a restaurant in the Rivière-des-Prairies neighborhood on May 29, 2021 to celebrate the latter’s 46th birthday. Lamontagne was arrested that evening by police officers from the SPVM’s Eclipse group in possession of a pistol.
Michael Lamontagne | Photo: Joël Lemay, Agency QMI
In the police community, we are told that Del Balso remains involved in two illegal areas for which he is famous, namely illegal sports betting, which brings in more than $20 million in profits for the mafia annually, and dealer extortion.
The mafioso also made headlines in September 2022 when the QMI agency revealed that Laval police had arrested him for attempting to blackmail nuns at a convent in Chomedey district. He is said to be demanding $5,000 a week from them in exchange for jewelry his ex-wife had previously given to the nuns.
Del Balso was also sentenced to a month in prison for making threats against a journalist from our Bureau of Investigation in 2018.
The ENRCO, made up notably of police officers from the Sûreté du Québec and the Montreal, Laval and Longueuil police services, has a mandate to target organized crime leaders, including members of the Hells Angels.
– In collaboration with Maxime Deland, agency QMI