POLICE TRACK CHILDREN OF MOBSTERS

Secret RCMP Intelligence

The RCMP is doing some estate planning for Canada's most notorious
Mafia bosses -- who are showing distinct signs of old age -- by
tracking the criminal prospects of their children.

A secret cross-Canada intelligence project concludes the offspring of
some key mobsters are "waiting in the wings" and will add modern
innovations to traditional criminal schemes. It adds the new leaders
will be harder to arrest because of "the lessons learned by their
forefathers."

The dossier on the next generation of mob leadership makes it clear
the Mafia will not fade away when today's godfathers die.

"There are clearly [Mafia] up-and-comers waiting in the wings, ready
to take over the family business here in Canada and they have been
very active for several years now already," concludes a report on the
project, obtained by the National Post.

The dossier tracks Mafia families throughout Quebec and in Vancouver,
Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Niagara Falls and Windsor, Ont.

The intelligence effort is code-named Project Sorbier, a wry reference
to a species of thorny Mediterranean tree and the fruit it produces.

"The new generation is involved first-hand in first-level criminal
activities, such as drug trafficking and distribution," the dossier
says. "This activity, on the one hand, ensures control of a given
territory and, on the other hand, generates major, permanent illicit
earnings. The participation of the new generation in first-level
activities serves as a financial cushion for the older
generation."

The new mobsters are also learning to avoid police
attention.

Police agencies have "some intelligence gaps concerning the young
generation's criminal activities," it says, but warns the lack of
evidence of overt criminality "should not be interpreted as a sign of
inactivity.

"They will make the most of the lessons learned by their forefathers.
This does not mean they will not make any mistakes, as their own lack
of experience may make them vulnerable," it notes.

The new generation is also expected to update the range of the mob's
criminal ventures.

"The young generation will remain present in many areas of criminal
activity. [But] Canada's [Mafia] criminals of tomorrow will aim to
specialize themselves in other fields, in particular in the use of
informatics for criminal purposes, in an effort to respond to a demand
for new illicit goods and services.

"Armed with the long list of international contacts established by
their predecessors over several decades, the new generation will be
innovative in orchestrating conspiracies to import large quantities of
drugs."

The new generation will also continue efforts to set themselves apart
from other criminal enterprises in Canada by investing their illicit
profits in legitimate enterprises, continuing the shift started by
their father from gangster to businessman.

Restaurants, cafes, bars, construction companies, import-export
businesses and real estate properties are highlighted in the report as
sources for the mob's dirty money.

The project was conducted by RCMP officers in Ontario, Quebec and
British Columbia, along with Montreal city police and the Combined
Forces Special Enforcement Unit, an elite Toronto-based mob-busting
unit.

The report was prepared in March, 2003, before recent events hit some
of the reputed heads of Mafia families.

In August, Frank Cotroni, a former Mafia boss in Montreal, died of
cancer at age 72.

Last week, Vito Rizzuto, 58, alleged to be the senior Godfather of the
Mafia in Canada, was ordered extradited from Montreal to the United
States to face trial over three gangland murders.

In November, Alfonso Caruana, 58, one of the world's most powerful
crime bosses, was ordered to Italy to face a 21-year sentence by an
Ontario court judge in Toronto.