Mafia leader assassinated in Laval

CTV Montreal: Mafioso killed in Laval Rocco Sollecito, a high-ranking member of Quebec's mafia, was shot and killed in Laval.

Mafia leader Rocco Sollecito was shot and killed Friday in Laval.

The deadly attack took place at 8:30 a.m. on Saint Elzear Blvd. West, near Chomedey Blvd.

Sollecito was shot to death in his car when he stopped at a stop sign just 300 meters away from Laval police headquarters.

The department began the investigation, but turned the case over to the Sureté du Quebec once the identity of the slain man was confirmed.

He was leaving his home and apparently heading to Marché 440 when a gunman emerged from hiding and fired several bullets into Sollecito's car from nearby. Sollecito was struck in the upper body and died at the scene.

"As we speak investigators are arriving on the scene. We also have our crime scene investigators squad," said Lt. Jason Allard.

"It's hard for us to tell you any more information about how the incident happened."

Stefano Sollecito, Rocco's son, has been named by police as the head of the Montreal Mafia. The younger man was arrested last November as part of a massive raid to stop cocaine trafficking in Montreal's east end.

Rocco Sollecito was named in 2010 during the Charbonneau Commission as one of five mafia bosses who frequented Café Consenza and accepted payoffs from construction.

In 2008 he pleaded guilty, along with other Mafia leaders including Nick Rizzuto Sr., Francesco Arcadi, Francesco Del Balso, Lorenzo Giordano, and Paolo Renda, to a lengthy list of crimes including conspiring to import drugs, running illegal gambling operations, extortion and gangsterism.