From this day forward you’re gonna be an official member of the Bonanno family

From this day forward you’re gonna be an official member of the Bonanno family

  November 18, 2017    Dapper_Don

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Thirteen suspected gangsters have been arrested following a coordinated Canadian-US takedown of organized crime which saw police secretly record a mafia induction ceremony.

Four US men were arraigned in New York on narcotics trafficking, loansharking and firearms charges yesterday, the same day Canadian agents arrested nine suspects.

Damiano Zummo, 44, Salvatore Russo, 45, Paul Semplice, 54 and Paul Ragusa, 46, allegedly belong or are associated with the Bonanno and Gambino crime families, two infamous mobs that have long dominated organized crime in New York.

As part of the investigation, agents secretly recorded a 2015 induction ceremony in Canada in which a defendant sponsored a confidential informant to become a full-fledged member of the Bonanno mob, prosecutors said.

Court papers seen by the New York Post report Zummo as saying to the unnamed man being initiated: 'The reason why we’re here is from this day forward, you’re gonna be an official member of the Bonanno family.

'From this guy, this guy, this guy, everybody approved it, so from this day forward, you’re a member of the Bonanno family. Congratulations.' 

He later goes on to say: 'You only answer to the Bonanno family.' 

Acting US attorney in Brooklyn, Bridget Rohde, called the recording 'an extraordinary achievement for law enforcement'.

She added that it dealt 'a significant blow' to the mafia. 

The charges include accusations that Zummo and Russo sold more than two pounds of cocaine in a Manhattan gelato store. Zummo is also charged with laundering more than $250,000 in cash.

Semplice is accused of running a scheme that extended loans with interest as high as 54 per cent, generating thousands of dollars in profits a week.

While Ragusa is charged with being a felon in possession of nine firearms.

If convicted, Zummo, Ragusa and Russo risk life imprisonment. Semplice faces a maximum sentence of 20 years, prosecutors said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5067843/Mafia-suspects-nabbed-US-Canadian-takedown.html