'Last of the untouchables' arrested

Paul Cherry. The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ont.: Nov 23, 2006. pg. A.3

Expert likens roundup of 90 suspects to shutdown of Mafia's head office

MONTREAL - Police in Montreal say they have struck "a very serious blow" to organized crime in an operation that has rounded up several alleged leaders of the Montreal Mafia.

Included among the 90 people arrested or sought on warrants yesterday morning was Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto, 82, the father of Vito Rizzuto, 60, the reputed head of the Mafia in Montreal. Another alleged Mafia leader arrested was Paolo Renda, 65, Vito Rizzuto's brother-in-law.

The organization is alleged to have infiltrated Montreal's major airport to import cocaine.

"We think it is a very serious blow to Italian organized crime," said Cpl. Luc Bessette of the RCMP. "The work of the RCMP in Quebec specializes in targeting all the members of an organization. We target the problems and not the symptoms."

Cpl. Bessette said later that the operation was one of the "most significant" in the history of organized crime in Canada.

When Nicolo Rizzuto was brought to RCMP headquarters,he was dressed in a fedora and smiled to photographers and television cameras.

More than 700 police officers took part in the investigation, dubbed Project Colisee. As of last night, at least 73 people had been arrested, including one person in Toronto and another in Halifax.

"We're dealing with people who for decades were able to avoid any kind of investigation in Canada," Mafia expert Antonio Nicaso said in an interview.

"Nick Rizzuto is a very respected mobster ... he was born and married into the Mob," Mr. Nicaso said.

"He was the (Montreal) godfather in the '70s and he always played an important role in the Rizzuto crime family. You can identify him as one of the last of the untouchables -- very clever, very smart and for many years he played this role of the old man capable of providing advice and counsel to anyone."

Montreal has long been criticized as a haven for Mafia figures who operate at an international level with seeming impunity. RCMP Supt. Richard Guay said yesterday that those days are over.

"Thanks to our investigators, we have penetrated the heart of this organization. The techniques that we were able to use as part of the investigation let us gather evidence in places where this criminal organization felt free to talk and act on their criminal activities," Supt. Guay said, adding Project Colisee "surpassed all expectations.

"We were able to pierce through this group of criminals where they felt safe."

Francesco Arcadi, 53, was arrested at a cottage early yesterday morning.

Police sources have been saying for a while that Mr. Arcadi was one of a few men favoured to eventually replace Vito Rizzuto -- who was extradited to the United States earlier this year to face racketeering charges -- as the head of the Montreal Mafia.

Mr. Renda, Mr. Arcadi, Nicolo Rizzuto and three other men are considered the key players targeted in Project Colisee and are described by the RCMP as being part "of a criminal organization whose primary activity is to commit" drug smuggling and exportation as well as bookmaking and extortion. The charges filed at the Montreal courthouse allege they took part in criminal conspiracies that involve several countries, including Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico and Haiti.

Also targeted were two agents with the Canada Border Services Agency and about 10 employees of airline and food services companies based at Montreal's Trudeau Airport. Cpl. Bessette said the people are suspected of helping the Mafia smuggle cocaine into Canada through the airport.

Some of the people targeted in yesterday's round-up face charges of bribing the two customs agents. Marilyn Beliveau, 27, of Montreal, and Nancy Cedeno, 32, of Laval, face charges alleging they accepted bribes while working for Canada Border Services Agency.

The investigation was headed by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, composed of investigators from various police forces that specifically targets organized crime. Surete du Quebec, Montreal police and Laval police carried out search and arrest warrants yesterday.

Guy Ouellette, a retired Surete du Quebec investigator and an expert on biker gangs, compared yesterday's roundup to one that shut down Montreal's Hells Angels Nomads chapter five years ago. "They have arrested the heads of the Mafia (in Montreal), the decision- makers. It is important because it is like shutting down the head office, much like the Hells Angels' head office in Montreal was shut down in 2001."