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The police included Leonardo Rizzuto as a suspect in a drug trafficking investigation based mostly on his family name, a defence lawyer argued on Wednesday as the alleged Montreal Mafia leader’s trial began at the Montreal courthouse.

The charges Rizzuto faces are related to how police found two handguns and five grams of cocaine inside his home in November 2015. At the time, they were making arrests in Project Magot, a lengthy investigation into organized crime and cocaine trafficking led by the Sûreté du Québec.

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When the arrests were made, the SQ alleged that Rizzuto, the son of now-deceased Mob boss Vito Rizzuto, was the head of the Montreal Mafia along with longtime friend Stefano Sollecito.

The trial began with prosecutor Matthew Ferguson presenting an agreed statement of facts to Quebec Court Judge Julie Riendeau as she prepared to hear arguments on a voir dire, a sort of trial within a trial.