SubscriptionsGo to the Subscriptions Centre to manage your:My ProfileThe organized crime ring with Mafia connectionsbroken up by police this weekwas running a multi million dollar online sports betting racket and a slick cocaine trafficking ring at the Montreal airport, the RCMP say.Seventy threepeople arrested Wednesday during extensive police raids had some link to both illegal businesses that allegedly netted the notorious Montreal based Rizzuto crime family tens of millions of dollars, the Mounties said.Another17 suspects remain at large, and five others have been contacted by police, the Mounties said.
| Reusable Spo2 SensorsRCMP seized 1,300 kilograms of cocaine smuggled through the Montreal airport. ((RCMP))In a seven month period in 2005, police seized more than 1,300 kilograms of cocaine smuggled into the Montreal airport via containers, suitcases and food carts.With the collaboration of agents with Canadian Border Services, the organization was able to run a steady stream of cocaine shipments from Venezuela and Haiti, in what RCMP Insp. Michel Aubin called a "continuous operation.""The organization gave [drug] couriers passes from customs and excise so that they could cross the border without any problem," he said.The bookmaking operation, worth about $26 million over the past 18 months, involved an internet site where people could place online sports bets. The site was once hosted on a server in Belize, but had moved to the Kahnawake reserve west of Montreal in 2005. Some 820,000 online bets were made between 2004 and 2006, according to the RCMP.The Mounties are still searching for 12 suspects, including customs agent Marilyn Bliveau. ((RCMP))The organization also ran a marijuana smuggling operation that acquired dope in the Laval and Montreal regions, and used the Akwesasne Territory to ship the illegal substances to Florida, the Mounties said.Rizzuto family hit hardAs of Thursday afternoon, those in custody included key members of the Rizzuto family: Nicolo Rizzuto, 82, father of former mob boss Vito Rizzuto; Francesco Arcadi, 53, the man believed to have replaced the younger Rizzuto; Paolo Renda, 67; Rocco Sollecito, 58; Francesco Del Balso, 36, and Lorenzo Giordano, 43.They are charged with conspiracy to import, drug trafficking, conspiracy for the purpose of trafficking, gangsterism, bookmaking, extortion, and possession of proceeds of crime.Giordano was also charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection to a 2004 incident at the Globe Restaurant on St Laurent Blvd. in Montreal.The elderly Rizzuto was "practically forced to take charge of the organization" after his son's arrest and extradition, Nicaso told the Canadian Press. |