A network of cocaine traffickers recently dismantled by the SPVM would have had the strategy of obtaining supplies in small quantities in Toronto, sometimes even going twice in the same week to the Queen City, by car, going back and forth. return the same day.
Posted at 4:28 p.m.
This is what an investigator from the Organized Crime Division (DCO) of the SPVM recently recounted during the investigation into the release of one of the accused, Keven Berthiaume.
Berthiaume, 30, was arrested and accused of cocaine trafficking following an investigation called Atlas, during which DCO sleuths got their hands on 104 kilograms of cocaine – a record for the SPVM – estimated at nearly 2.3 million, but also thousands of methamphetamine pills and protonitazene tablets, an opiate more powerful and dangerous than fentanyl and heroin.
PHOTOS FILED IN COURT
Thousands of tablets found in a mini-warehouse on rue Jean-Paul Vincent in Longueuil.
A workaholic
Investigator Mathieu-Olivier Couture explained that the investigation began on November 11, 2023, with information from sources concerning one of the suspects, Shahid Humayun.
Investigators monitored the latter for 25 days, and saw him carry out more than 80 bag exchanges, not only in Montreal.
“It was always one bag per transaction. He never carried two bags at a time. I have to say, he was a hard worker. I have rarely seen anyone in my career working so hard transporting cocaine. No social contact with friends, only with clients or active members of his organization. No meeting with his family, even during the holidays,” testified the police officer.
Surveillance led investigators to other suspects, including Keven Berthiaume, Alexandre Daigneault-O’Brien and Maxime Charrette.
11 hours of driving on the same day
They noticed that Daigneault-O’Brien was driving to the Toronto area, where Ontario police officers were taking over. They saw him receive bags from the hands of an individual, Bradley Nelson, where drugs and a veritable arsenal were discovered.
PHOTO FILED IN COURT
On March 27, Bradey Nelson transported the bags of cocaine which he would give to Daigneault-O’Brien and which would later be seized from the latter’s car.
On March 27, when he was intercepted, Daigneault-O’Brien was returning from Toronto, and the police found 21 kilograms of cocaine in his vehicle.
“On March 5 and 8, O’Brien was seen traveling to Toronto. We concluded that the organization favored the supply and transport of small quantities each time,” said investigator Couture.
During the investigation, police saw one of the suspects go to the home of a person close to Montreal Hells Angels David Lefebvre, the witness said.
He also said that on January 13, Humayun was involved in a collision with his vehicle, that he got out with bags and that he abandoned it on the spot.
On March 27, another of the suspects was speeding and his vehicle was towed to an impound lot. After obtaining a warrant, police surreptitiously entered the towed vehicle and found two kilograms of cocaine and $14,000 in the trunk.
Hard, hard, prison
“Prison, I will not let my worst enemy know that. I feel like I’m destroyed. I do not sleep. I stress a lot. It’s hard,” Berthiaume testified, trying to convince Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné of the Court of Quebec to grant him his provisional release.
“The accused’s testimony on the effects of his detention has very little probative value,” responded the magistrate, who concluded that Berthiaume’s role was not simply that of guardian of a cache of drug.
“His role not only significantly exceeds that of small fry, but could be described as one of the first violins of the system. His involvement in what we can call the transactional loop is not only important, but essential to the functioning of the dismantled organization,” said the judge, ordering the detention of the accused because he did not relieved of his burden on the 3e criterion for release that his release would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.
For their part, Daigneault-O’Brien and Humayun waived their release investigation.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.
