Magaddino's strongest ally on the Commission was his nephew Joseph Bonanno; the two Mafia bosses were from the same Sicilian town of Castellammare del Golfo.

[20] The information provided by the listening device planted in Falzone's '87 Buick was responsible for the dismantling of Torina drug ring which was doing "more than $2 million in street sales of cocaine annually in the Buffalo area."

Special Agent George Preston, chief of the DEA's Buffalo office told reporters, "This is a mob-controlled drug ring."

Early arrests in this case included known mob associates: Joseph "Pepe" Cannizzaro, Albino "Sha-Sha" Principe, and Salvatore "Sam Naples" Napoli.

[21] The investigation into the Torina drug ring revealed Todaro and Falzone were "involved in a Las Vegas-to-Buffalo pipeline for cocaine and other illegal activities."

Law enforcement told reporters that "two of the suspects are considered high-ranking members of a Hamilton organized-crime family under the indirect control of the Buffalo mob."

Of the 14 suspects arrested, Carmen Barillaro, Nicodemo Bruzzese, and Dominic Vaccaro were said to be "made members" of a Hamilton-based Mafia family that reports to Buffalo organized crime leaders.

[28] After robbing Blitzstein, the L.A. mobsters planned to have Buffalo family soldier Robert "Bobby" Panaro fence the stolen jewelry.

[28] Carmen Milano decided that Buffalo family boss Joseph Todaro Sr. would receive a piece of Blitzstein's Las Vegas rackets.

[28] In 1997, the Buffalo family's Canadian faction boss Johnny Papalia and his lieutenant Carmen Barillaro were murdered by Kenneth Murdock.

[30] The Canadian intelligence agencies had observed meetings in October 22–23, 1997, between Pat Musitano and Vito Rizzuto, which become more significant after the deaths of Johnny Papalia and Carmen Barillaro.

[30] In 1998, these factors led Lee Coppola, veteran organized crime reporter for The Buffalo News, to write an article titled "The Withered Arm".

According to CISC intelligence, the new, yet unidentified, Buffalo boss had a strong relationship with outlaw bikers, unlike his predecessor Johny Papalia, who refused to work with them.

As a result of this new, yet shaky, alliance, organized crime expert Detective Sergeant Peter Polcetti of the CISC said: "The Todaro family now controls Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal.

"[32] Gerald "Skinny" Ward was a locally powerful criminal in the Niagara Peninsula who purchased his cocaine from the Magaddino family, and in 1998 began his alliance with the Hells Angels.

Factors included older members slowly turning away from the organization, younger Italian-Americans showing no interest in its operations, an 11-year federal operation that forced the family out of Local 210 between 1995 and 2006, introduction of the New York Lottery depriving the family of a major revenue source (illegal gambling revenue), and the rise of Joe Todaro Jr.'s legitimate pizzeria business.

The article indicated Fino was "skeptical of the Justice Department's claims that mob influences were totally removed from Local 210 and the Laborers international."

"[22][45][46] In March 2017, nearly 20 years after Coppola's article "The Withered Arm", Dan Herbeck wrote a similar piece titled "The Mafia is all but dead in Western New York".

[9] However, arrests by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Project Otremens indicate the pronouncements about the Buffalo Crime Family's demise were overstated.

[42][48] These charges show a continuation of the long-established mafia drug trafficking triangle from Toronto/Hamilton, Ontario to Buffalo and Montreal to New York City established by Stefano Magaddino and his cousin, Joseph Bonanno.

[49][50] Michael McGarrity of the FBI said the Otremens operation "unearthed and dug up the roots of a partnership extending from New York City to Buffalo and Toronto to Montreal, proving once again that Italian organized crime groups have evolved far beyond the neighbourhood cliques of days gone by.

"[51] Additionally, Peter Edwards in The Toronto Star wrote, "The arrests also hit members of the Buffalo crime family headed by the late Joe Todaro.

"[52] The US Department of Justice said that Canadian law enforcement authorities had arrested various members and associates of the Bonanno, Gambino, and Todaro crime families on charges that include narcotics trafficking.

It's likely that Calabrese families, largely based in Toronto and backed by big players in New York State, are seizing control after the Rizzutos pushed them aside.

[58][65] Dr. Anna Sergi (lecturer in criminology at the Department of Sociology, University of Essex, United Kingdom, and deputy director of the Centre for Criminology) confirms the Otremens operation which resulted in the Violi brothers' arrests, indicates New York crime families are using drug trafficking routes they established long ago and that these families are being "reinvigorated" by their long established working relationships with the Calabrian mafia in Canada.

[50] On December 3, 2018, Domenico Violi was sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in the mob drug trafficking ring unearthed by Project OTremens.

[1] Wiretaps indicated Violi was made the underboss of the Buffalo crime family by boss Joseph Todaro Jr. in October 2017 in a meeting in Florida; the first Canadian to hold the second-highest position in the American Mafia.

[80] In 2020, the FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police reported that the murder of Albert Iavarone on September 13, 2018, is linked to the ongoing Mafia war in Hamilton, Canada.

[84] In April 2024, Bongiovanni was found guilty on obstruction of justice and making false statements but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the other 12 counts of conspiracy, bribery and drug-related offenses.