TORONTO – In the latest attack against a reputed Canadian Mafia family, a funeral home belonging to the Rizzuto clan was firebombed Thursday.
Montreal police Const. Yannick Paradis said the Loreto funeral home in Montreal's east end district of Saint-Leonard was set on fire early Thursday morning.
Three men were arrested and charged with arson and related crimes. They appeared in court Thursday and will be detained until a bail hearing on Monday.
Police said there was no immediate indication of any injuries in the attack, and they were still trying to determine what type of device was used.
The Rizzuto crime family came to prominence in Montreal with a violent coup against its Calabrian rivals in the 1970s.
They became one of the most powerful Mafia families in the world, with connections to a number of businesses that appeared legitimate, including bars, restaurants and construction companies.
The clan was weakened in a massive 2006 police dragnet in which scores of mobsters were arrested. The family and its associates have since been targeted in a series of slayings that crime analysts consider an attempt to end its hold on power.
Nick Rizzuto Jr., Vito's son and Nicolo's grandson and namesake, was shot to death outside his Montreal home Dec. 28, 2009.
Paolo Renda, 70, a top lieutenant, mysteriously vanished close to his Montreal home in May. Renda was considered the No. 3 in the operation and is married to Nicolo Rizzuto Sr.'s daughter, Maria.
Another high-ranking member, Agostino Cuntrera, was gunned down in June.
The large stone funeral home attacked Thursday is the highest-profile target to date in a rash of fire bombings against Montreal businesses that began over a year ago.
A number of funerals have been held in the Loreta home for members of the Rizzuto clan. The most recent was for alleged Mafia patriarch Nicolo Rizzuto, 86, who was gunned down in his Montreal home in November.
Police have said the attacks, which began with a spate of coffee-shop bombings, are sign of an underworld power struggle.
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