A prolific independent network stemming from street gangs dismantled
Six months after conducting searches aimed at dismantling a prolific network of independent drug traffickers from street gangs, investigators from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) have been making the arrests since early Wednesday morning, La Presse has learned. .
According to our information, a dozen individuals should be arrested during this search.
These arrests conclude a major investigation by the SPVM's Organized Crime Division (DCO), dubbed Auxo, during which investigators seized at least 54 kilograms of cocaine, 46 kilograms of crystal meth, nearly 170,000 methamphetamine tablets and 36 kilograms of cannabis, for a total valuation of approximately 4 million. During the investigation, the sleuths also got their hands on an astronomical sum of money of 1.3 million and eight firearms, including an AR-15 type assault rifle. In the big leagues
During searches in June, the commander of the SPVM's DCO, Francis Renaud, explained to La Presse that the members of the network came from street gangs and had created an independent organization that had nothing to envy to major criminal groups. , such as the Hells Angels and the mafia. This network could even supply them and street gangs on the north and south shores of Montreal. The network is said to have moved at least 25 kilograms of cocaine a week and transported large sums of money to Toronto, where it relied on a "door", that is, a person who brought the cocaine into Canada and which allowed them to obtain supplies in large quantities, in the same way as the major criminal organizations. “This is exactly the new color of organized crime. That is to say that it is individuals from all cultural communities, some of whom come from street gangs, who have started to collaborate together for a common goal, money. These people must have had the approval of certain important players and since they were useful to them, they were able to go about their business, ”explained Commander Renaud. The suspects are scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon at the Montreal courthouse. More details to come.
