14 suspects in Montreal mafia sweep freed on bail
Last Updated: Thursday, December 28, 2006 | 8:54 AM ET
CBC News
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Fourteen of the 70 people charged with having ties to Montreal's mafia were released on bail Wednesday.
The suspects were arrested in a major police operation in November, the most prominent being reputed mob figure Nicolo Rizzuto, 82.
Most face charges of importing and trafficking drugs through Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, or of being collaborators of people who did so.
Only four of those detained in the original sweep were denied bail. The Crown had opposed bail for all 18 people dealt with by Judge André Perreault.
Nancy Cedeno, a 31-year-old employee of Customs Canada, was one of the suspects who was released. She cried in court as the judge granted her bail.
"I guess she's very happy about the decision; she's been detained for 36 days," said her lawyer, Robert Bellefeuille.
Cedeno has been suspended from her job as a result of the investigation. She and the other 13 people released Wednesday will return to court on Jan. 19.
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