At the Charbonneau Commission hearings this morning: another indication of proximity between the Montreal mafia and certain companies active in the construction industry.

Montreal police officer Eric Vecchio, back on the stand at the Charbonneau Commission hearings,  rattled off name after name of companies that had vehicles parked outside the Cosenza Social Club at any point during the nearly-four-year 'Operation Colisee' anti-mafia investigation, ending in 2006. The list was compiled by the RCMP from licence plate numbers collected in the Saint-Leonard strip mall parking lot outsdide the Cosenza, former headquarters for the Rizzuto clan.

In all, 68 construction and related companies made the list, which included half a dozen companies that, at one point or another, appeared to control the lion's share of public contracts on and around the island of Montreal. Its publication followed the release of a series of RCMP videos showing construction industry notables delivering wads of cash to Rizzuto family bosses.