DANIEL RENAUD LA PRESSE Feb. 3,2017 The influential clan leader of the mafia Andrew Scoppa, arrested Wednesday for trafficking cocaine, was particularly betrayed by a microphone that the police had installed in the car with his driver.LaPresse learned.
According to our information, several conversations between Scoppa and his driver Nicola Valiente, also co-accused in this case, have been caught on tape by the police since at least the beginning of last fall.
Andrew Scoppa and his alleged accomplices were subjected to numerous spin-offs by police officers who reportedly went to the Tower of Canadians more than once, where 65 kg of cocaine was seized by Squad Investigators Regional joint venture (ERM) of Laval, on October 26th.
The investigation, dubbed Estacade, began in June 2014. It focused on Andrew Scoppa, considered by the police to be a major supplier of cocaine to other criminal organizations in Montreal.
Scoppa, 52, and three of his alleged accomplices, Valiente, 40, Fazio Malatesta, 48, and Maxime Hébert, 24, must return to court today for their formal release investigation.
Remember that Andrew Scoppa faces four conspiracy charges, possession of cocaine for trafficking, trafficking in cocaine and receiving a sum of money in excess of $ 5,000. Arrested later than others on Wednesday, Valiente only appeared yesterday afternoon and was accused of conspiracy and trafficking of cocaine.
OTHER ARRESTS Yesterday, the investigators of the ERM Laval of the Sûreté du Québec initiated phase two of Operation Estacade and arrested four other individuals suspected of being part of a drug trafficking cell operating in Laval and linked to the organization Of Andrew Scoppa. The suspects, Chadi Melki, 42, Charles Chouchani, 60, Hovhannes Yeghoyian, 29, and Mark Shirin, 42, were charged at the Laval Courthouse.
These last arrests increase to 12 the number of individuals apprehended in the investigation so far. At the time of this writing, a 13 th suspect, Luis Manuel Lopez, 57, of Montreal, was still being sought. The police believe it could be outside the country. The home of Lopez had been the subject of a search in recent months.
During the investigation, police seized more than 113 kg of cocaine, nearly $ 1 million in silver, 1 kg of MDMA, 280 lb of cannabis, 50,000 methamphetamine tablets, 15 kg of procaine, three weapons Prohibited weapons and a restricted weapon, according to a report unveiled Wednesday.
