The body found encased in cement and submerged underwater in a barrel over the weekend has been identified as Quang Lu, a York region man who has been missing since 2007.
The victim's family has been notified by police.
Lu, 47, was known to police and had ties to Asian organized crime, said Det. Hank Idsinga, with Toronto's homicide squad.
He said Lu was not wanted on any outstanding warrants at the time of his disappearance.
Det. Justin Vander Heyden said Lu went by the nickname "The Black Ghost," and had no job or obvious source of income.
"Given that it did appear that Mr. Lu did live quite a high-risk lifestyle ... at this point I'd be foolish to say we're not entertaining that there's a criminal organization angle to this," he said.
"We are diligent about keeping an open mind in terms of who may have done this to him and disposed of him in this way."
Lu lived in Thornhill, just north of Toronto in York region but travelled frequently to China, Idsinga said. He had just come back from a trip to China in November 2007 when he was reported missing.
His car, a 2004 BMW, was also reported missing and Idsinga said the vehicle has not been recovered.
Lu was identified through fingerprint analysis and it was known that his left index finger was severed above the knuckle.
Toronto police made the gruesome discovery Sunday afternoon after receiving a telephone tip with the exact location of the barrel.
The barrel was discovered about 100 metres offshore near a construction site near Lower Jarvis Street and Queens Quay. Police pulled it out of the water shortly after noon on Sunday.
Due to the weight of the barrel, police said it probably took more than one person to dump it.
Investigators said the barrel was likely dumped around the time he went missing, before construction began on the site, when the area was a paved parking lot.
The site is being transformed into a public park.
Lu was divorced and the father of one.
