A leader of the Arab Power gang accused of ordering a murder from his cell criticizes Bordeaux prison for isolating him without explanation, a request reveals. His transfer to an ultra-secure sector of the detention establishment comes after the public outing of the Minister of Public Security, who said he wanted to tighten the screws on certain detainees.
Published at 6:00 a.m.
Sylvain Kabbouchi, alias “Haboub”, has been detained since 2021. He was recently transferred to an “extremely secure, segregated” unit at Bordeaux prison. This change occurred on December 20, 2024 upon his return from the Gouin judicial center, specifies the request presented by his lawyer, Me Pierre Stoic.
On December 21, 2024, Sylvain Kabbouchi was moved to another sector of the establishment for “security reasons”. This new location would amount to isolation, commonly referred to as “the hole”.
The alleged murderer considers that he is being treated differently from other prisoners without valid reasons or clear explanations. He criticizes the detention establishment for not providing him with details of these sudden transfers.
According to the motion, staff were ordered to place him in a secure location. “The decision came from higher than management,” Mr. Kabbouchi was allegedly told.
According to the detainee, these reasons remain vague. “He has still not received information allowing him to know the real reasons underlying his placement in segregation,” believes the defense.
His detention conditions became restrictive at the time of his first change of sector, on December 20: he could not leave his cell for more than two hours a day. He did not have access to a microwave or toaster.
Its conditions are now even more severe. “He can only go out for one hour a day and is deprived of all his personal belongings,” the request states.
Phone calls are restricted and highly controlled in the unit where Mr. Kabbouchi is currently located.
The change in Mr. Kabbouchi’s conditions of detention comes as the authorities have been denouncing for several months the use of cell phones in prisons, which allows certain inmates to continue their illicit activities. The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, spoke to several media in mid-December on this subject, explaining that he wanted to tighten the screws on detainees who violate the rules.
-A notorious and influential criminal, according to police
According to our information, Sylvain Kabbouchi is considered an important member of the Arab Power group. According to certain police sources, it would even be the founder or co-founder.
This criminal organization would exercise great control in the underworld, both inside detention establishments and outside the walls.
Police believe Arab Power leaders currently in prison are linked to the wave of extortions and arsons in Montreal and Laval in recent years.
Sylvain Kabbouchi is accused in three murder cases: those of Nitchell Lapaix, Justice Owusu Tajudeen, a blue gang member, and Noël Garcia-Frias.
His trial for the murder of Nitchell Lapaix, an influential gang member active on the South Shore and downtown Montreal, is scheduled to begin on February 3.
Not the first request
Sylvain Kabbouchi has already questioned his treatment in prison in a similar request two years ago. He was suspected of having ordered an attack on another detainee, who was found with a lacerated tongue.
The Press had related that he had also made a brass knuckle (a blunt bladed weapon) with a toaster, had melted the window of his cell, and had ordered a pizza as a joke to the detention officers.
At the time, he was incarcerated in an “extremely secure” unit, a sector “more restrictive than other inmates” at the Rivière-des-Prairies prison. During a meeting with the prison service director, the latter compared Mr. Kabbouchi to “one of the most influential players in organized crime in Quebec,” indicated the documents filed in court.
It was specified that he “has a lot of influence in the sector, more than he lets on”.
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