Montreal Mafioso is victim of daylight hit

Agostino Cuntrera, 66, leading member of the Montreal Mafia, was murdered Tuesday in a daylight shooting at his east-end Montreal restaurant, according to a report by CTV of Canada. Also killed in the attack was Cuntrera's 48-year-old bodyguard.
    A black Chevrolet Impala was observed fleeing the scene. Police arrested two men in a similar automobile. One of the them was released.
    Authorities say Cuntrera took over command of the Sicilian criminal society in Montreal following the U.S. jailing of boss Vito Rizzuto for racketeering murders in Brooklyn. In December, Rizzuto's son Nick was shot to death in a daylight hit in Montreal's Notre Dame de Grace District. Paolo Renda, 70, a Rizzuto in-law who considered a top adviser to the Rizzuto organization, disappeared in May.
    A Calabrian underworld organization is widely believed responsible for the attacks on the Sicilian Rizzuto organization. The Rizzutos reportedly came to power in Montreal by eliminating a local Calabrian boss.
    Cuntrera was born in Sicily in 1944 and settled in Canada by 1965. He aided the Rizzuto clan as it established itself in Montreal. Cuntrera served five years in prison after being convicted of conspiring in the 1978 murder of Calabrian gang boss Paolo Violi.

Fugitive 'Ndrangheta leader caught in Canada

A Canadian immigration board has decided that Giuseppe Coluccio poses a danger to the public and will remain in prison until a full hearing can be held, according to a story by the Canadian Press.

Coluccio (right), a 41-year-old fugitive from Italy, was arrested last Thursday outside a Toronto-area strip mall. If he is returned to Italy, he faces up to 16 years in prison.

He allegedly fled Italy in 2005 when he was being investigated for drug trafficking. Canadian authorities believe he entered their country with a fake ID, according to a story by Rob Lamberti of the Toronto Sun. An immigration warrant was issued for him in 2006.

Italian law enforcement officials say Coluccio is related to Rocco and Giuseppe Aquino, leaders of the Gioiosa Jonica clan of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta criminal society. According to the officials, Coluccio has been involved in cocaine and heroin shipments, using links with the Cutrera-Caruana Mafia clan and Turkish crime groups.

Coluccio was reportedly convicted of narcotics trafficking in Italy in 1993. He served 10 years of a 12-year prison sentence.

William Willoughby, member of the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board, told Coluccio yesterday, "I believe that releasing you now would pose a danger to the Canadian public. I believe that you are involved in organized crime, and specifically, the head of a Mafia organization."

Canada denies full parole to Caruana

Canada's National Parole Board has refused the full-parole request of Gerlando Caruana, 64, according to a story by Paul Cherry of the Montreal Gazette.

Caruana, reputedly an inducted member of the Mafia in Sicily, is on a limited parole in a halfway house. Since 1998, he has been serving a nearly 32-year sentence for drug smuggling. He pleaded guilty that year to participating in a massive cocaine smuggling operation between Mexico and Canada while he was on parole from an earlier heroin smuggling conviction. As a result, the remainder of his first sentence was added to his second sentence.

Caruana claims he has disconnected himself from the Mafia society. "I've made a decision to get out," he said. "It's a decision I made when I was arrested a second time."

Given his past history, the parole board was skeptical.

Gerlando Caruana and his brother Alfonso were both arrested as part of Canada's Project Omerta in 1998. Alfonso was sentenced to 18 years after pleading guilty to drug trafficking. He has since been extradited to Italy, where he was tried and sentenced in absentia to a 22-year prison term for a similar offense.

Italian officials say the brothers are part of the Cuntrera-Caruana Mafia organization based in Siculiana, Sicily.