Former GTA mob killer speaks out from Italian prison

In June 1991, Giuseppe Costa's brother Giovanni was killed in Thornhill by a shotgun blast to the
face and neck. Unlike his brother, Giovanni had no involvement in organized crime.

In happier times — before he was sent to an Italian prison for 10 underworld murders and 14 attempted murders — Giuseppe Costa sold tasty Italian pastries at a bakery on Toronto’s Dundas St. W.

That was in the late 1960s, before a deadly feud between his family and the rival Commisso clan that killed four of his brothers, including one on a residential Thornhill street.

Now in his 60s, the one-time mob boss appeared bright-eyed and grandfatherly as he spoke recently to a Radio-Canada crew from an undisclosed maximum-security Italian prison, where he is serving a life term.

Costa was also convicted of Mafia association.

He told of life in the ’Ndrangheta, an international criminal group that’s distinct from the Sicilian Mafia.

“The Sicilian Mafia once led in Canada,” Costa said in the interview, which will be broadcast on the Enquête program on Thursday. “Now, the ’Ndrangheta has the power.”

Costa’s face is digitally altered in the Enquête video to make him less of a target for would-be killers. The Star viewed an unaltered version of the interview.

He smiled and calmly spoke of tightening links between the ’Ndrangheta in Italy and its Canadian counterpart, much of which is based in the GTA.

“Someone in the ’Ndrangheta in Canada feels like he’s at home,” Costa said. “He moves around. He has his place. He does his business.”  (more...)

Former GTA mob killer speaks out from Italian prison

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