He will not be able to have a license to carry weapons… because he is too close to influential mafiosi

A Montrealer who maintains far too close ties with influential mafiosi will no longer be allowed to have firearms “for recreational purposes”, even if he swears that his friendships are the result of chance or coincidences .

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“A reasonable person faced with the same facts would find this accumulation of coincidence improbable. Because of his frequentations, it is desirable […] that he does not have a firearm in his possession,” judge Alexandre Dalmau recently ruled at the Montreal courthouse.

Facing him was Enrico Foschi, a 38-year-old Montrealer with no criminal record, who had had a firearm possession permit since 2012 “for recreational purposes and for hunting.”

However, if he had always been able to renew his license, things happened differently last year, when his request was refused.

Influential mafiosi

This is because according to a Montreal police report, Foschi was seen on several occasions alongside important names in Montreal organized crime.

Thus, in the summer of 2022, his vehicle was seen during a private party at Marco Pizzi’s, described by the courts as an influential mafia boss active in drug trafficking and illegal betting.

Then, still in the same period, he was at Café Beache’s, a place controlled by Davide Barberio. Last year, this important figure within organized crime in Montreal was raided in connection with revelations by hitman Frédérick Silva.

Adding other times when he was seen in a cafe linked to the Rizzuto clan, or in the company of clan leader Vittorio Mirarchi, the risk was too great to give him a firearms license, the court ruled.

“These links are not negligible, considering the level of importance that his relationships occupy in the scene of Italian organized crime in Montreal,” indicated detective sergeant Anastasia Koklas in a report filed in court.

He explains

Unhappy with this decision, Foschi contested everything in court, explaining that he knew the leader of the Mirarchi clan through family, and that they had crossed paths by chance.

In Pizzi’s case, it would be a vehicle imbroglio. As for the owner of Café Beache’s, their links are limited to having been neighbors at a certain time, in addition to having children of the same age.

“It remains that he has numerous contacts with several individuals linked to organized crime and is in places frequented by them,” however retorted the magistrate.

Thus, even if Foschi said he was the victim of “prejudice” especially since there was no indication that he would lead a criminalized life, the judge ruled him wrong, recalling that the Office of Firearms Control could very well disarm him “for his safety or that of others”.

If he wants to challenge this decision, Foschi still has three weeks to do so.