[4] Already involved in organized crime in Calabria,[4] Luppino, his wife Domenica (née Todaro)[8] and their 10 children immigrated to Hamilton, in 1956, from Castellace, a subdivision of Oppido Mamertina.
[12] By the time Luppino arrived in Canada, the "Three Dons" had already been established, consisting of Santo Scibetta, Anthony Sylvestro and Calogero Bordonaro, who answered to Stefano Magaddino of the Buffalo crime family.
[13] By the early 1960s, Magaddino promoted Santo Scibetta to leader of the Buffalo family's Ontario branch replacing Johnny Papalia who was under indictments in the United States.
[4] The Luppinos also became associated with local bootlegger Paolo Violi, but left for Montreal in 1963 on Giacomo's orders to avoid clashes with Papalia.
[3] Giacomo had five sons who were involved in organized crime: Vincenzo (Jimmy), Natale (Nat), Rocco, Antonio (Tony) and John Luppino.
[22] In 1966, when Magaddino planned to have Vic Cotroni killed for his loyalty to Joe Bonanno, Luppino persuaded him to abandon the murder plot.
[16] Jimmy Luppino mostly worked in the extortion rackets in his native Hamilton and became so notorious in that city that he took to "renting" out his name for a $1,000 fee to other extortionists.
[29] Statements made during the 2018 trial of mobster Domenico Violi indicated that, several decades earlier, Giaccomo Luppino had been responsible for working out arrangements for the alliance between the Hamilton mob and "the Mafia of Buffalo".
[38][39][40] During the multi-city bust, police seized large quantities of fentanyl and carfentanil, heroin, cocaine and over 250,000 tablets of controlled substances, some three million cigarettes and several gaming machines.
[37] During the same week in November, the FBI arrested several people in New York on related offences;[37] the charges included narcotics trafficking, loansharking and firearms.
[43] On December 3, 2018, Domenico Violi was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking drugs to a paid undercover police agent for more than US$416,000, as part of a three-year RCMP-led police Project OTremens, during which the agent was officially inducted as a "made" member of the Bonanno crime family in Canada, according to an agreed statement of facts.
[45] Domenico Violi admitted to trafficking approximately 260,000 pills, including PCP, ecstasy and methamphetamine to the undercover agent.
[44][46][47] Wiretaps recorded from 2015 to 2017 also indicated Domenico Violi was made the underboss of the Buffalo crime family[48] 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.
Detective Sergeant Peter Thom provided only this information to the news media: "I've been told he works for a family business down in Stoney Creek", apparently related to a cafe and real estate.
No charges had been laid as of that time but the news item added that the Cece Luppino murder might have been committed to "send a message to more powerful family members".
The report also referenced a 2015 conversation that had been accessed by police; Cece was heard to say that he did not want to be a "made man" in the organized crime aspect of the family but might become involved if he could be sure of a financial benefit.
[7] A 2019 CBC News report later quoted a Mafia expert as stating that "Rizzuto's death paved the way for upheaval in the underworld.
[50] The wiretaps of Domenico and Joe Violi recorded a discussion that the Musitanos were supporting the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia clan who have roots in Montreal and Toronto.