A gangster linked to the Montreal mafia is shot to death in a Cancun gym

The Attorney General's Office of the State of Quintana Roo (Mexico) has reported that a man was murdered this Wednesday with a firearm in the gym of the Marina Puerto Cancún shopping center.. His body was left on one of the weight machines, he received first aid and was taken to the hospital.. Mexican authorities have indicated that the victim had a criminal record in Canada, where he was convicted of the crimes of gangsterism and possession of money of illicit origin, but they did not reveal his identity.. However, La Presse's investigative team revealed that the victim is Samy Tamouro, who had ties to the Montreal mafia.

Tamouro was apparently related to Frederick Silva, a hitman linked to the Montreal-based Sicilian mafia who became a police informant after being convicted of four homicides.. According to the Canadian media, Silva would have revealed information about “about thirty murders and as many attempted murders committed within Montreal organized crime” since at least 2010.. Furthermore, two days after the alliance between Silva and the security forces was announced, Tamouro traveled to the Dominican Republic and later to Mexico, where he would have been living until now.

Until now, it is unknown who is behind the murder and the reasons why it was carried out.. However, former investigator of the City of Montreal Police Service (SPVM) and organized crime specialist, Eric Vecchio, stated on Radio-Canada's Tout le monde en parle program that the masterminds of the crimes could have ordered a “purge” in order to eliminate the ex-hitman's accomplices. “We can think that some of these problematic witnesses could disappear,” said the expert.

Tamouro is also linked to the Hell Angels group, a motorcycle gang sometimes involved in illegal activities.. In 2012 he was sentenced to 24 months in prison for a case of aggravated assault and four years later he was arrested in Quebec as part of Operation Magot-Mastiff, which had the purpose of dismantling an organized crime organization.. In 2017 he declared that he was a gangster and that he had money of illicit origin, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. According to police, Tamouro was also linked to several street gangs and even drug trafficking.