Cosimo Commisso

The Commisso 'ndrina is a powerful clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organization in Calabria, Italy.

The 'ndrina is based in Siderno, but also has a branch in the Greater Toronto Area in Canada as part of the Siderno Group.

The Commisso clan is involved in international drug trafficking using family ties in Italy, Canada, the United States and Australia.

Girolamo Commisso was a sgarrista in the 'Ndrangheta in Siderno, making him a mid-ranking figure, until his murder in 1948.

Girolamo Commisso left behind a widow and three sons Rocco Remo, Cosimo and Michele who vowed to avenge their father.

In 1961, the Commisso brothers moved to Canada, settling in Toronto, but did not forget their father.

The murder of Girolamo Commisso was never solved, but it was believed to have been the work of two assassins, Salvatore Scarfo and Michale Alberti, both of whom fled to Argentina afterwards.

Siderno was the fiefdom of Antonio Macrì the undisputed boss at the time.

The three Commisso brothers arrived in Toronto in 1961, but the police first began to pay attention to them in 1970 when Rocco Remo Commisso was accused of using intimidation to win orders for a bakery owned by one of his uncles.

The Commisso brothers were at first associated with the Toronto 'Ndranghetisti Michele "Mike" Racco, but moved closer to another 'Ndranghetisti Rocco Zito during the 1970s; Zito was a pallbearer at Racco's funeral in 1980.

Zito was known as an advocate of closer ties with the Montreal underworld, a stance shared by the Commisso brothers, while Racco wanted to keep a distance from the Montreal underworld.

Racco sat on La Camera di Controllo, the board that governed 'Ndranghta activities in Toronto, making him one of the most important 'Ndranghetisti in Canada.

By the end of the 1970s, the Commissos had put together a criminal enterprise that "rivalled the best of the Sicilian Mafia structures existing in the United States and which was, in terms of pure muscle and audacity, one of the most powerful mafia groups in Canada".

During visits to his hometown of Siderno in 1971 and again in 1972, Rocco was the target of assassination attempts, being fired upon during both visits.

In January 1975, Macrì was killed in the First 'Ndrangheta war.

His right-hand man – who was wounded in the attack on Macrì – Francesco Commisso, known "Cicciu I quagghia" ("the quail").

At Macrì death, his successor was his nephew Vincenzo Macrì, known as u Baruni , who became the head of the locale Siderno.

But his succession did not last long.

Very soon another young man distinguished himself for charisma, Cosimo Commisso, son of the aforementioned Francesco Commisso "the quail", Antonio Macrì's shoulder guard, who assumed command of the locale Siderno, making the 'ndrina Commisso, the family that today bears his name, one of the most influential in the 'Ndrangheta.

By 1976, Cosimo Commisso was considered by the police to be a capo bastone (underboss) in the Siderno group.

In the 1980s, the Commisso were challenged by the Costa 'ndrina over the command of Siderno.

The Costas had returned from Toronto.

In 1982, Alberti returned to Siderno and was promptly murdered while eating at the patio terrace of the Gourmet restaurant.

Amongst the patrons eating at the Gourmet were a dozen men from Toronto with links to the three Commisso brothers.

One of the men present at the Gourmet, Vincenzo "Jimmy" DeLeo, upon his return to Canada visited the Commisso brothers being held at the Kingston penitentiary; he denies that he discussed the murder of the man who killed their father with them.

The hitman Cecil Kirby in his 1986 autobiography Mafia Enforcer described Francesco Commisso as the father of Cosimo Commisso.

Giuseppe Commisso (u mastru) is also an influential figure in Siderno.

By 1991, the feud – that spilled over to Toronto as well – ended in a victory for the Commisso clan.

Officially, there were 28 dead among the Costas and eight among the Commissos.

Cosimo Commisso was sentenced over the vendetta and his cousin Antonio Commisso, also known as l'avvocatu ("the lawyer"), succeeded him as the acting boss of the clan.

The Commissos are one of the 'Ndrangheta's biggest and most important clans, involved in the global cocaine business and money laundering.

They were members of Camera di controllo, a provincial commission of the 'Ndrangheta formed at the end of the Second 'Ndrangheta war in September 1991, to avoid further internal conflicts.

The Commissos are known to have links with the Secondigliano Alliance, considered by the authorities the most powerful Camorra group that is still active.

Both organizations are allied in the trafficking and sale of cocaine and marijuana from South America, via the Netherlands.

In 1993, Cosimo Commisso was arrested, and later convicted of five murders and three attempted murders between May 1989 and July 1991, and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998.

After 26 years in prison, on 9 January 2019, the Court of Appeal of Naples acquitted Commisso in a review process "for not having committed the offense", releasing him immediately.

On 13 December 2019, Commisso was arrested in the "Core Business" operation, accused of mafia association for the period in which he was under house arrest since 2015 in Perugia.

On 9 August 2019, several former Greater Toronto Area residents were arrested in Calabria, including Francesco Commisso and Rocco Remo Commisso.

By that time, police in Italy and in Canada were convinced that "the 'Ndrangheta's Canadian presence has become so powerful and influential that the board north of Toronto has the authority to make decisions, not only in relation to Canada's underworld, but also abroad, even back in Siderno".

On 30 January 2020, Commisso was definitively acquitted of the murders by the Supreme Court of Cassation.