Arson investigators in Laval have been called in to investigate the firebombing of a hair salon owned by the wife of a man tied to the Rizzuto organization.
The Laval police were first alerted to the fire shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday when an alarm was set off inside the company based in a strip mall on Robert Bourassa St.
When the police arrived they noticed a smashed window and flames inside. Firefighters from a nearby fire station were called in and quickly extinguished the blaze, said Laval police spokesperson Constable Franco Di Genova.
“When the firefighters arrived they were able to smell an accelerant,” Di Genova said while explaining why arson investigators were called to the scene. He added that investigators will check security cameras used by other businesses in the area to see if they can come up with images of the person, or people, responsible for setting the fire. Di Genova said he was unaware of any motive that might explain why the business was targeted.
According to the Quebec business registry, the salon, Streakz Coiffure, is owned by Caterina Miceli, identified in a court document filed in 2006 as the wife of Carmelo Cannistraro, 46, the head of an illegal bookmaking ring tied to the Rizzuto organization that was uncovered during Project Colisée, a major investigation into the Montreal Mafia that produced dozens of arrests in 2006. She is also the owner of another hair salon that operates under the same name on René-Laennec Blvd. in Laval.
In 2011, Cannistraro was part of a group of ten men who pleaded guilty to charges related to the bookmaking ring that took bets on sporting events like baseball and football games. Because of his leading role, Cannistraro paid the highest fine, $250,000, of the ten men. In total they paid more than $1.1 million in fines in the case. The investigation revealed Cannistraro worked closely with Mafia leaders like Francesco Del Balso and Lorenzo Giordano while he ran the ring that police estimated made more than $26 million in profits between October 2004 and March 2006.
Giuseppe Torre, 1, and Guiseppe Annibale, 2, are shown in this police surveillance image from the funeral of mafia figure Domenico Macri on September 5, 2006. (Courtesy of Montreal courthouse)
During Colisée the RCMP had information that Streakz was owned by Polisena Delle Donne, the wife of Guiseppe Torre, 45, a convicted drug trafficker who received one of the lengthiest sentences handed out in the major investigation into the Montreal Mafia. Torre was sentenced to an overall prison term of 14 years in 2009 after pleading guilty to being part of a series of conspiracies to smuggle drugs including cocaine into Canada.
The RCMP had information that Delle Donne sold the company to Miceli in April 2006. But according to the Quebec business registry, Delle Donne still has ties to the hair salon on René-Laennec Blvd.
Businesses in Montreal tied to other people with known ties to the Rizzuto organization have been targeted by arsonists in recent months as well.
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