According to the information we have, the 53-year-old man was shot shortly before 1 p.m. this afternoon, while he was in front of a physical training center on rue St-Régis, on the edge of the road. Trans-Canada.
No arrests have been made at this stage of the investigation, said the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
This is the 12th murder to occur this year in the territory of the SPVM.
An influential figure in Montreal organized crime, Francesco Del Balso was the victim of an attempted murder on November 7 in Laval.
Francisco Del Balso following his arrest during Operation Colisée in 2006.
Photo: archive
Individuals aboard an SUV had fired several shots in his direction, while he was driving his car, at the corner of boulevards de Bois and Saint-Martin, in Laval.
Del Balso had miraculously escaped this attempted murder, at least a dozen bullets having been fired in his direction.
He was suspected in the criminal world of having been involved in the plot to assassinate Leonardo Rizzuto, the son of the late godfather Vito Rizzuto.
Francesco Del Balso had already been the target of an attempted murder last fall.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Pascal Robidas
Many arrests
Close to the Rizzuto clan, Francesco Del Balso was arrested in November 2006 as part of Operation Coliseum by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
He was then sentenced to 15 years in prison for gangsterism and drug trafficking, including cocaine. He was released in February 2018.
He had also been arrested in September 2022 by the Laval police for a case of threats and extortion against the leaders of a religious community in Laval.
Last March, the police of the Sûreté du Québec had also conducted a search of his home as well as that of three influential members of the Hells Angels as part of an investigation into drug trafficking.
Francesco Del Balso had also been questioned the week before by investigators from the Sûreté du Québec, when he was trying to leave the country. He had been questioned this time in relation to the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto, which occurred on March 15, in Laval.
Although he was released following questioning, Del Balso was forced to hand over his passport to investigators.
