Police investigating after firebombing of Quebec hair salon owned by wife of man tied to Mafia

Arson investigators in Laval have been called in to investigate the firebombing of a hair salon owned by the wife of a convicted drug trafficker with well-established ties to the Rizzuto organization.

The Laval police were first alerted to the fire shortly after 2 a.m. Thursday when an alarm was set off inside the company based in a strip mall on Robert Bourassa St.

When the police arrived they noticed a smashed window and flames inside. Firefighters from a nearby fire station were called in and quickly extinguished the blaze, said Laval police spokesperson Constable Franco Di Genova.

“When the firefighters arrived they were able to smell an accelerant,” Di Genova said while explaining why arson investigators were called to the scene. He added that investigators will check security cameras used by other businesses in the area to see if they can come up with images of the person, or people, responsible for setting the fire. Di Genova said he was unaware of any motive that might explain why the business was targeted.

According to the Quebec business registry, the salon, Streaks Coiffure, is owned by Polisena Delle Donne, the wife of Guiseppe Torre, 45, a convicted drug trafficker who received one of the lengthiest sentences handed out in Project Colisée, a major investigation into the Montreal Mafia.

Colisée revealed Torre had close ties to members of the Rizzuto organization, in particular Francesco Del Balso. Torre was sentenced to an overall prison term of 14 years in 2009 after pleading guilty to being part of a series of conspiracies to smuggle drugs like cocaine into Canada.

Delle Donne’s name was mentioned often in court documents filed in an effort by authorities to confiscate some of Torre’s assets after he was arrested in Colisée in 2006. However, Delle Donne was not charged in connection with her husband’s drug smuggling efforts. She is also the owner of another hair salon that operates under the same name on René-Laennec Blvd. in Laval.

Businesses in Montreal tied to other people with known ties to the Rizzuto organization have been targeted by arsonists in recent months as well.