Montreal

Funeral held for alleged Montreal mob boss

Around 200 people gathered at a church in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville on Friday for the funeral of a reputed high-ranking Mafia member who was gunned down last month.

Rocco Sollecito was shot in broad daylight while driving in Laval

Rocco Sollecito's death has been taken as a sign of the further weakening of Montreal's Rizzuto crime family. (Natalie Nanowski/CBC)

Around 200 people gathered at a church in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville on Friday for the funeral of a reputed high-ranking Mafia member who was gunned down last month.

Rocco Sollecito, 67, was shot on May 27 while driving his white BMW SUV in Laval, north of Montreal. Police described the shooting as a "mob hit."

Sollecito was considered to be ranking member of Montreal's Rizzuto crime family, the once mighty clan that has been weakened in recent years by arrests and killings.

Rocco Sollecito was described by one crime expert as consigliere to the new leaders of the Mafia. (Radio-Canada)

Sollecito's shooting comes three months after Lorenzo (Skunk) Giordano, identified as a lieutenant in the Montreal Mafia, was killed in a parking lot in the Chomedey area of Laval.