Mob-connected Gambling Kingpin Murdered in Montreal.
A prominent figure in the Montreal Mafia met his end in a brazen daylight shooting on a Dorval street corner on a Monday afternoon.
53-year-old Francesco Del Balso, a presumed power player within the Rizzuto crime family, is believed to have orchestrated their illicit gambling operations. As the reigning kingpin Vito Rizzuto passed in 2013, Mafia analysts indicate that Del Balso aspired for more, which ruffled a few feathers among his criminal peers.
In the power vacuum left by Rizzuto's demise, Del Balso's power play within the syndicate quickly landed him on the hitlist, it seems.
Targeted Individual
Rizzuto was jailed and transported to the U.S. in 2004, where he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. He passed away from natural causes in 2013.
Apparently, Del Balso's pursuit of control over the syndicate expedited his progression from "made man" to "marked man."
There has been three separate attempts on Del Balso's life recently, according to The Montreal Gazette. The third shot hit the mark.
"A few minutes before 1 p.m., cops were dispatched following reports of gunfire on St-Régis Blvd. near Deacon Ave. in Dorval," a Montreal police rep said. "When the officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a 53-year-old in distress, injured by a firearm on his upper body. Sadly, the man was confirmed dead at the scene."
The Rizzuto crime family is considered by the FBI to be an offshoot of New York's Bonanno family, and by Canadian authorities as an autonomous Mafia organization.
Ongoing Mafia Feud
Either way, they exert a substantial influence on Canadian organized crime, reaching into most of southern Quebec and Ontario. The devastating loss of Vito Rizzuto has left the family divided and weakened, and Del Balso's assassination indicates that the conflict on the rise is far from over.
In March, Vito's son, Leonardo Rizzuto, was wounded by unidentified assailants. Del Balso was one of the suspected culprits.
This assassination makes it crystal clear that the Montreal feud is not yet resolved," said Antonio Nicaso, an organized crime analyst, to The Montreal Gazette. “The power void caused by Vito Rizzuto’s death still sparks violence among the diverse factions of what was once Canada’s most formidable Mafia family.”*
Del Balso was imprisoned in 2006 as part of Operation Colisée, Canada's largest Mafia raid. He served a decade behind bars on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
Upon his release in 2016, concerns for his safety led to his immediate re-incarceration. Despite being tagged as the next in line to be executed, he was released in 2018.
At the time of his death, he was under police scrutiny for drug distribution.
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