Police investigating local Mafia activity following Star report

Thunder Bay Police say they will be looking into allegations that a branch of an Italian Mafia organization is active here in the city.

The allegations come from a Toronto Star news article that used Italian court documents as a source. Those documents were filed as part of a major investigation into the Ndrangheta, a group that originated in the Calabria region of southern Italy.

According to the Star article, a top Ndrangheta boss was dispatched to Toronto last year to mediate a dispute between members of the organization in Toronto and underlings in Thunder Bay.

The tension had arisen from activities by the local cell that weren't authorized by their Toronto bosses.

Thunder Bay Police officials said while they are aware of the Italian criminal organization, they previously had no indication they were active in this city. Police officials added that any contact with Italian investigators would have been made through the RCMP.

RCMP officials meanwhile have been unavailable for comment.