Book review: "Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicilian Clan" by André Cédilot and André Noël, translated by Michael Gilson
If you ever drive to Montreal, from either Ontario or the United States, you will surely notice that the moment you enter Quebec, the road becomes extremely bad. It only gets worse once you start living in Montreal. "Crumbling" is the only appropriate word to describe its infrastructure. If you ever wonder why, the answer can be summarized in one word: mafia.
Originally written in French by two veteran investigative reporters of La Presse, the largest French daily newspaper in Montreal, "Mafia Inc." is, in my humble opinion, the best book to learn the rise and fall of the most infamous Sicilian crime family in Canada, the Rizzutos. One episode of their story has been immortalized on the silver screen in "Donnie Brasco (1997)".
The authors took pain not to romanticize the life of the mafiosi, as many Hollywood blockbusters have regrettably done. Instead, the book describes the mafia as they really are: drug-traffickers, murderers, loan-sharks, money-launderer, frauds, extortionists, tax-evaders and criminals with a twisted sense of honor and complete disregard for law and order. However, the authors did a fabulous job of telling true crime stories in the most fascinating, and thrilling, way.
The mafia, unlike many other criminal organizations such as the Hell's Angels biker gang, is extremely dangerous and harmful to the society because of its utter efficiency and sophistication. It tries, often successfully, to infiltrate the legitimate economy and all levels of politics so that it can run its most lucrative businesses and launder its ill-gotten gains even more efficiently. Like cancer or parasites, the mafia sucks the life out of the society by misappropriating tax dollars. Therefore, wherever the mafia exists, the infrastructure crumbles because the easiest way to feed on tax dollars is to take public contracts.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has worked hard to chase the mafia. My favorite story is Operation Compote, where the Mounties set up a covert currency exchange in downtown Montreal, just minutes away from where I work, specialized in accepting large amount of small bills without even asking a question. It attracted criminals eager to launder their money like bananas did fruit flies. The operation was a complete success because not only did it catch criminals by the dozen, it costed taxpayers not a single penny: the currency exchange and wired transfer fees paid for the whole operation with even a surplus of a few million dollars!
For me, the stories in the book hit too close to home, literally. It mentions so many neighbourhoods, streets and businesses in Montreal that I don't even feel safe going out anymore. As a Le Devoir review poignantly says: "It reads like a thriller because it is one." Even more thrilling is the fact that the story is still unfolding as we speak: just take a look at this timeline of events compiled by CBC. If you live in Canada, you can even watch this excellent episode of "the fifth estate", a CBC newsmagazine, online: Who's Killing the Rizzutos?
The original French version of the book was a runaway best-seller but the English translation is less known and underrated. Forget "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas", this book tells true stories. I highly recommend it.
If you ever drive to Montreal, from either Ontario or the United States, you will surely notice that the moment you enter Quebec, the road becomes extremely bad. It only gets worse once you start living in Montreal. "Crumbling" is the only appropriate word to describe its infrastructure. If you ever wonder why, the answer can be summarized in one word: mafia.
Originally written in French by two veteran investigative reporters of La Presse, the largest French daily newspaper in Montreal, "Mafia Inc." is, in my humble opinion, the best book to learn the rise and fall of the most infamous Sicilian crime family in Canada, the Rizzutos. One episode of their story has been immortalized on the silver screen in "Donnie Brasco (1997)".
The authors took pain not to romanticize the life of the mafiosi, as many Hollywood blockbusters have regrettably done. Instead, the book describes the mafia as they really are: drug-traffickers, murderers, loan-sharks, money-launderer, frauds, extortionists, tax-evaders and criminals with a twisted sense of honor and complete disregard for law and order. However, the authors did a fabulous job of telling true crime stories in the most fascinating, and thrilling, way.
The mafia, unlike many other criminal organizations such as the Hell's Angels biker gang, is extremely dangerous and harmful to the society because of its utter efficiency and sophistication. It tries, often successfully, to infiltrate the legitimate economy and all levels of politics so that it can run its most lucrative businesses and launder its ill-gotten gains even more efficiently. Like cancer or parasites, the mafia sucks the life out of the society by misappropriating tax dollars. Therefore, wherever the mafia exists, the infrastructure crumbles because the easiest way to feed on tax dollars is to take public contracts.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has worked hard to chase the mafia. My favorite story is Operation Compote, where the Mounties set up a covert currency exchange in downtown Montreal, just minutes away from where I work, specialized in accepting large amount of small bills without even asking a question. It attracted criminals eager to launder their money like bananas did fruit flies. The operation was a complete success because not only did it catch criminals by the dozen, it costed taxpayers not a single penny: the currency exchange and wired transfer fees paid for the whole operation with even a surplus of a few million dollars!
For me, the stories in the book hit too close to home, literally. It mentions so many neighbourhoods, streets and businesses in Montreal that I don't even feel safe going out anymore. As a Le Devoir review poignantly says: "It reads like a thriller because it is one." Even more thrilling is the fact that the story is still unfolding as we speak: just take a look at this timeline of events compiled by CBC. If you live in Canada, you can even watch this excellent episode of "the fifth estate", a CBC newsmagazine, online: Who's Killing the Rizzutos?
The original French version of the book was a runaway best-seller but the English translation is less known and underrated. Forget "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas", this book tells true stories. I highly recommend it.
Comments