Daniel Renaud of Le Press offers a view of the Montreal underworld.

The price of a kilo of cocaine was around $45k before the pandemic, and peaked at nearly $80k at the height of the health crisis. The price is now said to be around $36k. Relations "have been close" for two years between the Hells Angels and the Mafia. Influential members meet regularly, like a party Dec 10 at the Café Bellerose in Laval.

Hells Angels Martin Robert and Stéphane Plouffe are the two heavyweights in Montreal. Robert is considered the most influential Hells Angel in Quebec. Ontario Hells Angel Rob Barletta, well known to be involved in sports betting, now wears the colors of the Montreal section. Cops say that gang leader Gregory Woolley has returned to the Montreal Chapter's Hells Angels fold. The mafia is unstable and still has no leader. The Sicilian clan, the former Rizzuto clan, is still considered the strongest, but its influence is in steady decline. Street gangsters never disappeared, what is new, cops say, is that their members are younger and have more guns. While at one time the conflicts opposed the Reds and the Blues, today there are quarrels between members of groups of the same allegiance.