Porchetta Pizza's thin crust of respectability - Antonio Madafferi

When the founder of the La Porchetta pizza chain in Australia, Rocco 'Rocky' Pantaleo was subjected to extortion from Melbourne mafia gangster Alphonse Gangitano, he could have paid. It was the mid 1990s and the 'Black Prince of Lygon Street' was making threats if he wasn't paid off. Pantaleo refused and turned to Francesco 'Mad Frank' Madafferi, brother of Antonio Madafferi. Gangitano was warned off as he was outranked. In 1998, he was gunned down. Rocco Pantaleo would die in a road crash in 2020. It was ruled an accident. Today, the La Porchetta brand, which operates in New Zealand and across Australia, has 38 outlets. Behind the corporate sign is La Porchetta Holdings Pty Ltd, which has been part-owned since 2010 by investment companies controlled by families of the 'Honoured Society'.

Prominent among owners of La Porchetta Holdings Pty Ltd is Antonio 'Tony' Madafferi. A Madafferi company owns 5% in La Porchetta Holdings Pty. The same-sized stake is held by the family of Madafferi's brother, Francesco, the man who warned off Gangitano. Francesco Madafferi was busted for drug trafficking. His group was responsible for what was then the world's largest ecstasy bust in 2007, more than four tonnes of pills worth A$440m that were smuggled inside cans of tomatoes. At last report, in mid 2021, he was being prepared for deportation to Italy.

Another co-owner linked to the Honoured Society is Michael Manariti, who was sentenced to 9+ years jail in 2010 for trafficking ecstasy, cocaine and meth.

Frank Madafferi initially received protection payments for turning away Gangitano. Soon after other underworld players and their relatives became La Porchetta franchisees, like Michael Manariti. They also invested in properties used by the chain. Crossing these interests would prove to have disturbing consequences. In August 2014, ASX-listed Retail Food Group, which owns franchise chains Crust, Gloria Jean's and Brumby's, announced it would buy La Porchetta's for A$16.3m. 3 months later it walked away. La Porchetta had been under pressure from a host of new competitors in the pizza business. It's franchise network contracted from more than 90 outlets at its peak. In March 2014, the link between La Porchetta and organized crime made headlines.

Madafferi, who has previously sued Fairfax Media for defamation, tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain the identity of the journalists' sources. He says he is a businessman unfairly slandered by the police and media.
See ----->Tony Madafferi anointed new Godfather of Australian mafia

Clayton Eheler - busted again - update IV

"Christmas is all about giving," said Alexandria Di Battista, 'owner' of Smoking Deals Auto in Chilliwack.

Its Dec 16, 2013 and "The folks at Smoking Deals Auto, Alexandria Di Battista, Clayton Eheler, and Tyler McInnes, hosted a Christmas dinner for the hungry on Dec. 19, 2013 at Evergreen Hall." “We did pretty good this past year, and we want to give back to the community,” she said. “Feeding people is filling a basic need.” So is getting high and cocaine kingpin Clayton Eheler was busted months later.

Clayton Archie Eheler, 40, was arrested on multiple charges March 22, 2022 in Langley. This time around it's committing an offence for a criminal organization, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and trafficking. Eight years, four months, and 15 days after Clayton Eheler was caught with Matthew Thiessen processing a mountain of cocaine, the well-known gangster finally pleaded guilty. Co-accused Thiessen pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Sept. 6. Eheler remains out on bail pending his next court appearance. Clayton Archie Eheler puts the 'R' into recidivist. In 2019 cops seized $2m worth of drugs, including nearly 15 kg of fentanyl pills and powder, eight guns and more than $200k in cash. Eheler and co-accused Mathew Jordan Thieessen were caught with cocaine in 2014. Both were found guilty of trafficking.

Eheler, a former Bacon brothers associate, was sentenced to 8 years and a lifetime weapons prohibition. The case against the gangsters turned mainly on the admissibility of evidence from a search warrant. The men were present in the apartment when cops busted down the door. Cops landed 8kg of powder cocaine and 1kg of crack along with weapons. Eheler is well known as a Wolf Pack gangster - a coalition made up of some Hells Angels, some Red Scorpions and some Independent Soldiers.

Eheler has a long criminal history, exceeding 45 convictions. Over the years Eheler repeatedly used a high profile defence lawyer to force delay after delay in the case. There were multiple defense voir dire hearings for alleged Charter breaches and a failed application for a mistrial. Then the pair gleefully argued their Charter rights were violated because the case took more than 30 months from arraignment to conviction.

Clayton Eheler in Asia in 2014.

Tony Madafferi anointed new Godfather of Australian mafia

The Australian arm of the mafia has a new Melbourne-based Godfather. Press in the country can't name names. We can. New boss is the well recognized Tony Madafferi, 55. He replaces the aging Diego (Danny) Luppino as the head of the Calabrian mafia. Luppino has been considered Australia’s Italian organized crime “Godfather” since the 1990s. Oz cops last year said there were 51 Italian organized crime clans in Australia — 14 of them ’Ndrangheta clans, with thousands of members. The changeover in leadership has been negotiated without bloodshed. Like elsewhere in the world, the clans are tied by blood lines. Its estimated the ’Ndrangheta controls 80% of the world’s cocaine trade.

This space recorded the infamous 'Lobster with a Mobster' episode in 2017 as Mr. Matthew "tough on crime” Guy was boiled alive and cooked red after having a lobster and donations dinner with mobster Antonio Madafferi. See ----->'Lobster with a Mobster' = Oz Lobstergate See ----->Oz politico regrets pricey Dinner with Mob Boss

'Screwy Ride' brings out HA, cops, in Vancouver - update III

The plot has thickened regarding Wayne 'Willy' Williams. The Commandos aren’t just affiliated, the RCMP’s gang unit, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU-BC), lists them as a puppet club of the HA. This distinction puts them in the same category as the Red Devils MC. wayne_williams@sd33.bc.ca.

Wayne Williams - Chilliwack School District Williams is said to have a Hells Angels sticker on his Harley for years. This would be banned if he wasn’t a HA associate.

Williams said he rides with the Commandos Motorcycle Club, a group comprised of “active and retired Canadian Armed Forces and Allied Military Members.” Williams refused to comment if it was appropriate for him to spend his time with OMG bikers primarily engaged in organized crime.

Cops tend to pay close attention every time Hells Angels gather for one of their group rides. Whom the bikers call associates is one of their concerns. Photojournalist Jason Payne was there as the bikers gathered at Ocean View Cemetery in Burnaby. One face was recognized by Chilliwack citizens. The photo shows two Hells Angels smiling and embracing, along with a man smiling facing them with a vest with the word 'Veteran'. That man is Chilliwack School District manager of transportation Wayne Williams. The HAMC would have had to approve the 3 patch colours worn by the group.

It's 2019 and about 80 Hells Angels and associates gathered at the East End clubhouse for their annual ride to pay tribute to Dave (Screwy) Swartz. Vancouver cops checked vehicle registrations, prompting East End chapter president John Bryce to chat with police.

This year Vancouver cops on motorcycles and in cars were stationed around the clubhouse at 3598 East Georgia Street. It is no longer HAMC property and confused bikers eventually congregated at Swartz’s grave in Oceanview Cemetery in Burnaby. David Ernest Paul “Screwy” Swartz died 6 Apr 1988 aged 32. He was shot and killed with a rifle by his friend Lynn Neil Eddington, who then killed himself with the same gun. The men had been drinking heavily at a party when they began fighting.

Homietos MC and Banditos MC - Whisky Barrel Saloon

Eric Oberholtzer

Oklahoma City cops arrested two Bandidos after the Whisky Barrel Saloon shoot out. Eric Oberholtzer, 29, the president of the local Homietos MC, was killed. Two members of Bandidos-affiliated groups also died in the crossfire: Andrew Sump, 28, and Francisco Tanajara, 38. Homieto Tyler Myers, 34, was hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds after the fight and arrested on first-degree murder charges shortly after.

Bandidos Douglas Jacobs and Nicklus Sweet.

Eric Ross Oberholtzer, Mahir Alihodizic and Christopher Daniel Holt

Three banditos were killed and one wounded in separate shootings along Interstate 45 in two counties in Southeast Texas. The incidents took place north of Houston April 3, 2022 as the bikers were shot off their bikes. Three members of the Homietos MC were arrested after the murders.

Christopher Daniel Holt, 28 is the president of the Homietos. Mahir Alihodizic, 36, is vice president. Eric Ross Oberholt, 28, was a member of the Homeitos MC. Homeitos MC bikers were surrounded and gunned down in an April 13, 2023 bar shoot out in Oklahoma City in an act of bloody revenge. 3 died, including Eric Ross Oberholtzer. 3 others were injured. Bullet holes riddled the inside of the Whiskey Barrel Saloon after the ambush.

Giuseppe (Joe) Violi out and about

Giuseppe (Joe) Violi, 52, son of a murdered mob boss has been granted day parole but denied full parole after serving almost five years in prison for conspiring to smuggle cocaine and fentanyl with American mobsters. He was granted six months of day parole earlier this month. Violi is serving out a 16-year prison term for conspiring to import 200 to 300 kilos of cocaine and three kilograms of fentanyl into Canada. Giuseppe’s older brother Domenico Paolo Violi, 57, was also convicted in Project Otremens. He was released in 2021. The brothers are the sons of the late Paolo Violi and grandsons of the late Giacomo Luppino, both bosses of the ’Ndrangheta, or Calabrian Mafia, in Canada. Giuseppe and Domenico Violi were eight and 11 when their father was murdered in the Montreal ice cream shop that served as his headquarters.

See ----->Domenico Paolo Violi wins day parole

Manitoba HA Meth ring nailed - Kenny Erstelle revisited

It is late December 2019 and Manitoba cops are crowing about the largest meth bust in history. What happened to HA drug kingpin Kenny Aj Erstelle? Only the shadow knows, it isn't obvious. Project Declass was a 16-month investigation into a drug trafficking network operating out of Winnipeg by the HA. It began in August 2018 with the arrest of two Winnipeg residents who were attempting to import 40kg of cocaine into Manitoba. Manitoba’s highest court recently sent Anthony Cerezo-Brennan, 34, to jail after ruling his mental illness played no role in his decision to traffic drugs. He was among 11 people arrested. He sold three kilos of meth to an undercover cop. A psychiatrist diagnosed him with a delusional disorder, noting he had developed “paranoid and grandiose beliefs,”

22 kilos of meth, the largest amount of meth seized in Manitoba history, along with 43 kilos of cocaine and 5 vehicles were seized. Street value of the drugs is estimated at $6.5m. Nine, including a full-patch HA — have been arrested and charged for trafficking. Cops executed nine search warrants The street value of meth in Winnipeg is said to be among the cheapest in Canada. A gram is going for $50 and that low price has fed a huge drug problem in the city.

Also charged are Anthony Cerezo-Brennan, 31, Ryan Cerezo-Brennan, 32, Akhome Manotham, 42, Dillon Middleton, 25, Ritchie Orbegoso, 34, Linda Pelletier, 41, Lord Kofi Agyapong-Mensah, 40, and Jian Shen, 37.

Charges have been laid against HA Kenny Erstelle, 38

McDonald’s Hamburglar out of retirement

Other McDonald’s characters could return, like Grimace, Mayor McCheese, or even, gasp, Mac Tonight.

After a decade out of the burger theft game, McDonald’s has brought the Hamburglar back for another hamburger heist. This time it’s biggest ever. The cartoony version of the Hamburglar is back to help McDonald’s with advertising while he steals their brand new and improved burgers. The new thing is the way McDonald’s is making their burgers. From the Big Mac to the lowly McDouble burger, every patty will be cooked with onions and have meltier cheese.

57 pounds of cocaine found on Vero Beach

Vero Beach is along what became known as the 'Treasure Coast' after coins washed ashore. In 1715 a fleet of Spanish treasure ships sank in a hurricane. That huge haul is still being found. A trove of Spanish gold coins were found in shallow water near Vero Beach in 2020.

A beachgoer came across 20 bricks of cocaine washed ashore at Vero Beach. Bricks had a collective weight of 57 lbs. Local cops collected the bricks and turned them over to the USBP.

See ----->Florida treasure hunters find $4.5m in lost gold

Edmonton cops seek carfentanil dealers

Kenneth Murray Matthews and Karnvir Singh Sandhu are wanted after a $2.2m drug bust in Edmonton last year. Cops lassoed 12.4 kilos of fentanyl, 234.92 grams of carfentanil, and 239.9 grams of methamphetamine.

B.C. seizes three Hells Angels clubhouses - update II

The Hells Angels have filed an application in Ottawa seeking leave to appeal the Feb. 15 ruling stripping the club of it's 3 clubhouses in B.C. Canada’s highest court must agree to hear the appeal for it to proceed. Of the 600 applications for leave the court gets each year, about 80 are granted.

The land titles for the clubhouses at 3598 East Georgia in Vancouver, 805 Victoria Rd. in Nanaimo and 837 Ellis St. in Kelowna were transferred to “His Majesty the King” on March 17. The HAMC have until Monday to ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal.

The provincial government on Friday moved to seize three Hells Angels clubhouses, including one in Kelowna. Cops arrived at the home on Ellis Street Friday morning, with similar operations underway in Nanaimo and East Vancouver. Two months ago, the BC Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision and ruled in favour of the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office, allowing the government to seize the three clubhouses.

837 Ellis Street, Kelowna

After a decade of legal wrangling B.C. can seize three HAMC clubhouses. In 2020, Justice Davies ruled that there was insufficient evidence that crimes committed by members were done at the direction or for the benefit of the Hells Angels, and were not facilitated by the clubhouses.

3598 E. Georgia Street, Vancouver.

805 Victoria Rd, Nanaimo

He struck down a section of the Civil Forfeiture Act. The Director of Civil Forfeiture appealed the decision. Three supreme court judges decided that the clubhouses have and will continue to enhance a member’s ability to commit crime. The appeal was granted and the land titles for the Nanaimo, Vancouver and Kelowna clubhouses will be handed over to the province. Last year HA lawyers swore an affidavit that their legal bills and disbursements exceeded $3.3m. B.C. Hells Angels Rick Ciarniello and Damiano Dipopolo took the stand for the club.

See ----->Damiano Dipopolo's defamation lawsuit against Dennis Watson

Ryan Matthew Christensen denied bail

Ryan Matthew Christensen in 2010

Career criminal Ryan Matthew Christensen, 31, was denied bail in Vancouver provincial court. He was busted red-handed after a mall security guard was called upon to investigate an abandoned bag in Metrotown. He spotted a gun and called cops. Inside was a loaded handgun with a round in the chamber and 81 grams of fentanyl mixed with benzodiazepine, 78 grams of cocaine mixed with phenacetin and 56 grams of methamphetamine. Mall security cameras caught Christensen's every move. Live footage showed Christensen returning from a Samsung store. Cops were waiting and the tard was busted. Christensen missed multiple court dates including when he was caught in possession of a prohibited weapon in 2020. Christensen made headlines in 2010 for being a part of a huge B&E ring that victimized hundreds.

3 piece patch meaning

The 3 piece patch is used to identify a member of a motorcycle club, or MC. A three-piece patch is most often seen as an outlaw motorcycle gang patch. (OMG) It is comprised of a top rocker, a central club logo, and a bottom rocker signifying territory. They are used to convey a very specific message in the biker world. Members of motorcycle clubs are considered to have earned their patch. For a member of the public to wear an unauthorized patch is to invite a physical confrontation because it is considered stolen. The patch MUST BE approved by the dominant biker group in the area. Bikers will take a cut (vest) by force in many cases if it has not been approved.

Wearing a 3 piece patch is exactly the same as claiming membership in an OMG. Patches are earned in stages, over time. A prospect may only wear a top rocker, often with a 'prospect' patch on the lapel. After sufficient time the prospect will be voted into the club as a full member and will then be awarded the club insignia and bottom rocker. The HAMC 'Death Head' is ALWAYS considered HAMC property. When leaving the club the death head must be returned. This applies to tatoos and jewelry. For a member of the public to display the death head in any form is to invite an immediate beat down.

York cops lasso $1.5m in cargo theft

York cops arrested four men for stealing loads from tractor-trailers and selling the freight. Cops recovered $1.65m worth of vehicles and goods in Project Copperhead, an investigation into cargo thefts throughout the GTA. Five search warrants were executed. Items recovered included eight stolen tractor-trailers as well as six full cargo loads and other vehicles. Paramjeet Singh, 23, of Vaughan, Sameer Rathaur, 21, of Brampton, Atif Heral, 43, of Toronto, and Asif Rasool, 48, of Mississauga face 18 charges. Cargo theft is a low risk, high reward crime. Cargo theft in North America rose by 15% in 2022, equal to 1778 recorded thefts. Theft of at least one heavy commercial vehicle increased by 17%.

This stolen truck was used to steal $300k worth of equipment in 2021.

Fictitious cargo pickups have increased 600% in 2022. Fictitious cargo pickup relies on subcontracting the shipment to a legitimate carrier and having the shipment misdirected to another address. These pickups mostly occurred in California but are spreading.

The average value of cargo stolen was $214,104.