A high-profile member of organized crime in Montreal was shot and killed Monday afternoon, sources confirmed to Radio-Canada.
Francesco Del Balso was shot near the corner of Deacon Street and St-Régis Boulevard in Dorval in Montreal’s West Island.
Mugshot of Francesco Del Balso after his arrest in 2006. (Charbonneau commission)
Montreal police were on the scene and reported a shooting with a deceased victim.
Del Balso was arrested as part of the Operation Colisée sweep of the Montreal Mafia in 2006. He was convicted of gangsterism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
He was released in 2016, then ordered back into prison over concerns for his safety. Parole board documents at the time described him as “next on an execution list.” Del Balso was released again in 2018.
He was arrested in September 2022 by police in Laval, Que., in connection to threats and extortion against the leaders of a local religious community.
Last March, the Sûreté du Québec searched his home along with the homes of three influential members of the Hells Angels as part of an investigation into drug trafficking.
A week before that search, he had been questioned by provincial police investigators when trying to leave for Italy. He was released, but his passport was seized.
Police investigate near the body of a person who was shot outside a gym in Dorval, Que., Monday. The man was declared dead on the scene, his identity has not yet been confirmed by police. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
The shooting follows two other high profile attacks this year.
In March, Leonardo Rizzuto, who allegedly took over from his father Vito Rizzuto as a Montreal Mafia leader, was shot at in Laval, Que. The car he was driving was hit with multiple bullets. Rizzuto survived with injuries.
On May 16, Claudia Iacona, the daughter-in-law of Montreal Mafia member Moreno Gallo, was killed in a targeted shooting in the parking lot of her beauty salon in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough.
Mafia power imbalance
Antonio Nicaso is the author of more than 40 books on organized crime, and he teaches the subject at Queen’s University. He said Del Balso once managed gambling for the Rizzuto crime family.
“He was a very powerful mobster,” said Nicaso.
Nicaso said Del Balso specialized in illegal betting activities, but his efforts to carve out his own space in the field of gambling and extortion led to a clash with the Rizzuto clan.
Challenging the family’s senior management led to retaliation, and Del Balso tried to flee the country because he was being hunted, said Nicaso. The conflict escalated.
“We learned he was a suspect in the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto — he had some important connections to the Hells Angels,” said Nicaso.
Mafia expert explains murder of Montreal mobster
Antonio Nicaso, who has authored more than 40 books on organized crime and teaches the subject at Queen’s University, says Francesco Del Balso specialized in gambling and worked with the Rizzuto crime family until his efforts to expand illicit activities led to a conflict.
When there is violence like this, it shows a power imbalance among criminal organizations while bringing their activities into the spotlight, he said.
However, the mafia, or mafia-like organizations, are more powerful when they don’t use violence because that creates a better environment for them to bribe and corrupt people — infiltrating organizations with the goal of making money, Nicaso explained.
“When there is a war, it’s always painful for everyone and it’s not the best strategy in place to conduct criminal activities,” said Nicaso.
Del Balso’s murder confirms the mafia war in Montreal is “not yet over,” said Nicaso, but it’s not clear how far the battle will extend.
TORONTO – Ontario is pushing through several bills with little or no debate, which the government house leader says is due to a short legislative sitting.
The government has significantly reduced debate and committee time on the proposed law that would force municipalities to seek permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a car lane.
It also passed the fall economic statement that contains legislation to send out $200 cheques to taxpayers with reduced debating time.
The province tabled a bill Wednesday afternoon that would extend the per-vote subsidy program, which funnels money to political parties, until 2027.
That bill passed third reading Thursday morning with no debate and is awaiting royal assent.
Government House Leader Steve Clark did not answer a question about whether the province is speeding up passage of the bills in order to have an election in the spring, which Premier Doug Ford has not ruled out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
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