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Thirty five people accused of serious crimes like kidnapping and drug trafficking saw the cases brought against them in a major RCMP investigation into the Montreal Mafia dropped on Tuesday because the Crown no longer wants to prosecute them.

The Crown’s sudden change of stance in an investigation dubbed Project Clemenza meant there are only 11 accused left with cases pending following three series of arrests made between 2014 and May last year. Federal prosecutor Sabrina Delli Fraine informed Quebec Court Judge Lori Renée Weitzman of the Crown’s position during a hearing at the Montreal courthouse.

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Included among the people who no longer face any charges is Liborio Cuntrera, 48, of Laval, a man alleged to be one of the current leaders in the Montreal Mafia. Cuntrera’s father, Agostino, was murdered in St-Léonard in 2010 when the Rizzuto organization was under attack. Cuntrera was charged last year with trafficking in cocaine on May 17, 2011. Another two charges that were stayed on Tuesday alleged that he and Marco Pizzi, 47, of Montreal North, conspired to traffic in cocaine during a nine-day period in 2011.