Toronto Organized Crime Figure Arrested in Daylight Raid at Café Roma

In a dramatic afternoon raid that sent shockwaves through Toronto’s underworld, police rearrested notorious organized crime figure Phil “Big Mac” Macdonald at the popular Café Roma on College Street yesterday, citing multiple parole violations.

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Macdonald, long considered one of the city's most influential mob enforcers, was apprehended while allegedly meeting with key figures tied to the Italian organized crime members, as well as Simon Vodovos, a Quebec-based criminal increasingly linked to multiple transprovincial crime syndicates.

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According to law enforcement sources familiar with the arrest, the meeting was under surveillance for several days as part of an ongoing joint investigation between the Toronto Police Organized Crime Enforcement Unit, the RCMP, and Corrections Canada. Authorities moved in just before 11 a.m., detaining Macdonald without incident.

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"This was not a casual coffee," said one senior police official who spoke on condition of anonymity. "What we witnessed was a high-level coordination meeting between serious criminal players. Macdonald violated several terms of his supervised release, including consorting with known criminals."

 

Macdonald, 58, was previously convicted in 2017 for charges related to extortion, weapons offenses, and conspiracy to traffic cocaine. After serving over six years of a ten-year sentence, he was released on strict parole conditions in 2023.

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Law enforcement sources say Macdonald has since been under close monitoring. Still, his reemergence in connection with the organized crime groups and Vodovos has reignited concerns about a resurgence of old alliances—and the forging of new ones—in Canada’s shifting organized crime landscape.

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Simon Vodovos, a lesser-known figure but rising in Quebec’s criminal ecosystem, has reportedly expanded his base of operations into Ontario over the last 18 months. Macdonald and Vodovos have a history of serving time together in a federal penitentiary in 2018 and 2019. Mr. Vodovos' appearance at the Café Roma meeting has fueled speculation that he may be playing a key role in several crimes spread between Ontario and Quebec.

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"The presence of Vodovos alongside a heavyweight like Macdonald and mafia lieutenants suggests that territorial lines are blurring, and collaboration is on the rise," said Catherine Evans, a criminologist specializing in Canadian organized crime. "This is not just a parole violation—this is a strategic alliance in the making."

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Macdonald remains in custody at the South Toronto Detention Centre and is expected to appear before the Ontario Parole Board later this week. Additional charges may be forthcoming, depending on the outcome of the ongoing investigation.

Authorities are remaining tight-lipped about the identities of the other individuals present at the café, but unconfirmed reports suggest that at least one high-ranking mafia associate was also detained for questioning.

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Police have increased their presence in areas of known underworld activity across Toronto in response to what insiders are calling a “significant destabilization event” within the city’s organized crime scene.

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Anyone with information related to the case is urged to contact Crime Stoppers or the Toronto Police Organized Crime Unit.