Niagara drug kingpin goes on trial for murder

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Niagara drug kingpin Nicola ‘Nick’ Nero was in a Toronto courtroom Wednesday for his trial into the deadly shooting in Toronto’s little Italy neighbourhood in 2012. Nero, who was arrested in the largest cocaine seizure in Niagara’s history is accused of being the mastermind behind the killing of 35-year-old Johnnie Raposo, along with three other men.

Raposo was gunned down in a targeted hit on June 18th 2012. The crown says it was part of a plot to steal a 200 kilogram shipment of cocaine from Raposo and split the money three ways. Dean Wiwchar, the alleged gunman along with Nicola Nero, Rabih Alkhalil, and Marinto Caputo are all charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. All have pleaded not guilty.

The crown told the 12 member jury Wiwchar dressed up as a construction worker during the hit, which would pay him $100 000. The jury heard that Nero conspired with Caputo and Alkhalil in the hiring. All three were involved in the cocaine-importing business as was the victim, Raposo.

Nero was the target of a Niagara regional police investigation called project ink earlier that year. He was charged with trafficking $30 million worth of cocaine. The largest cocaine seizure in Niagara’s history.

Most of the opening statement was spent on analyzing blackberry smartphones and extraction of electronic data. The crown says during a search warrant at Nero’s Niagara on the Lake home a number of phones were taken. Police also took a sticky note that had a password scribbled on it. That code helped police crack Nero’s blackberry and download his email messages which the crown says shows communcations between all 4 accused leading up to the shooting.

The trial is expected to last 10 weeks.