MAFIA CLANS IN SHOOTOUT

Wild Gun Battle That Killed Two Involved Drug Dispute, Police Say

It sounds like a scene from Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.

Eight or 10 men, members of rival clans of the Italian Mafia, are
quarreling in a west-end office building over a stash of marijuana in
the basement.

Somebody snaps.

Guns are drawn and shots fired at close range. One man on each side
is killed and a third man is badly wounded.

That was the scenario Montreal Urban Community police outlined
yesterday to explain Thursday's double homicide at 5600 Notre Dame
St. W.

The men met in the office of a construction company, Le Groupe Gem,
to talk about 15 kilograms of marijuana - packed in plastic bags and
ready for shipment - in the basement.

Also seized by the police was $100,000 in cash and 11 firearms, seven
of which were stashed in the basement of the building along with the
drugs.

The seven included an AK-47 automatic rifle and a variety of handguns.

The other four firearms are believed to have been used in the
gunfight on the first floor.

Police seized hydroponic equipment from the basement of the building
but investigators do not believe the marijuana was grown there.

The man wounded in the shootout was reported to be in serious but
stable condition yesterday. Police were waiting for his condition to
improve before trying to question him.

The marijuana - packed in plastic bags and ready for shipment - was
found inside the building that houses Le Groupe Gem and a company
named Les Entreprises Ventec.

Det.-Lt. Yvon Desrosiers said MUC police believe the men gathered in
the building, near the Turcot rail yards, sometime after noon
Thursday.

He said the men "were related to the Italian Mafia" but it "remains
to be determined what clans they belonged to."

"There was an exchange (of gunfire) between the two clans. Everybody
(at the meeting) appeared to have been armed."

Desrosiers would not reveal details such as how many shots were fired
or what firearms were used. He said keeping that information from the
public is important to the investigation.

The two men killed in the gunfight were on opposite sides of the
dispute, Desrosiers said.

Francesco Veltri, 41, and David Belleville, 33, were both pronounced
dead at the crime scene.

Veltri has a criminal record that includes extortion and he was on
probation when he was killed. A source said Veltri is related by
marriage to a member of the Cuntrera-Caruana crime family, whose
Canadian leaders are in prison for their involvement in a large
cocaine shipment that was seized in 1998.

Veltri Independent

A source familiar with the organized crime world described Veltri as
being very independent. The source doubted that the eight or 10 men
gathered inside the building were acting on orders from the
higher-ups of a well-organized Mafia family.

Belleville did not have a criminal record, but Desrosiers said police
intelligence pegged him as being part of an extortion ring.

The wounded man, 33, has a criminal record similar to Veltri's. His
name was withheld but The Gazette has learned that he was convicted
in the same case as Veltri and was also out on probation.

Desrosiers said his investigators are not certain whether the two
groups were meeting to discuss a drug deal that turned sour or
whether one group was committing a "burn" on the other.

Although they met in a part of the building used by Le Groupe Gem,
Desrosiers said: "For the moment we can't involve the company. There
was a meeting there, but the people (at the meeting) did not work for
the company. They had access to the building but we haven't
determined how.

"The materials (seized) were warehoused there, but we don't know who
placed it there."

The company's owners have told police they know nothing about what
happened Thursday. No one from Le Groupe Gem could be reached by
telephone yesterday.