The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) arrested 35 people in addition to carrying out 15 searches across the province as part of a vast operation carried out Wednesday in connection with the war between gangs for control of the sale of drugs. These groups also supply themselves with firearms illegally imported from the United States, police revealed.
The provisional results of the “combing operation” were revealed by the provincial police force during a press conference which took place at its headquarters in Quebec.
The chief inspector and director of investigations, Michel Patenaude (right), and the communications coordinator, Benoit Richard (left), of the Sûreté du Québec maintain that the provincial police force is working tirelessly to put out state of harming the actors in the conflict.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
The chief inspector and director of criminal investigations at the SQ, Michel Patenaude, confirmed that certain arrests were linked to highly publicized cases such as the torture session which left a person dead in Saint-Malachie, the death of a teenager following a gun attack on the Hells Angels hideout in Frampton as well as the kidnapping of Michaël Chouinard in Saguenay and the torture session that followed in Montreal.
The Sûreté du Québec has also announced that David Boucher-Trottier, 25, is the subject of an arrest warrant in connection with this latest case. He is also wanted by the Saguenay Police Department for an attempted murder that occurred in downtown Chicoutimi borough in April.
The Sûreté du Québec is looking for David Boucher-Trottier, 25, in connection with assault and a kidnapping committed in Chicoutimi.
Photo provided by the SQ
Dirty work
Chief Inspector Patenaude clarified that the suspects who were handcuffed Wednesday are “executors” who do the dirty work for leaders like Dave “Pic” Turmel and All Boivin, the two most wanted criminals in the country. Canada. “All allegiances” of organized crime have been targeted.
“We always talk about three levels; local, regional and management leaders. It is mainly people at levels one and two that we have reached, so many people who commit the acts and who will be brought before the courts.”
Chief Inspector Patenaude did not want to detail for which criminal group each of the 35 people arrested works. According to him, the vast operation targeted criminals of all stripes.
Stevens LeBlanc/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
200 police officers mobilized
Unlike the megaoperation SCANDALEUX carried out last February, it was not a “single specific project” this time. The operation therefore does not have a name strictly speaking, as was the case for the previous wave which led to more than 50 arrests in total.
“In this case, there are more than thirty separate files. These are not linked files, but they all have the same background: drug trafficking and the violence that results from it,” explained the member of the Sûreté du Québec staff.
Thus, more than 200 members of the police, including certain municipal police officers from Saguenay and Quebec, took part in the vast operation which took place in several regions.
Photo taken from the SQ Est account
“The teams were among others at work on the North Shore, in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, in the Quebec region and in Gaspésie. Several arrested individuals have appeared and face various charges, including kidnapping, forcible confinement, armed assault, discharge of a firearm, arson and drug trafficking,” he continued.
Inside the walls
The sweep operation also had repercussions in Quebec detention centers.
Correctional officers seized cell phones at the Quebec Detention Facility.
Photo d’archives
Around ten cell phones were confiscated from detainees. These devices will be analyzed to find “communications related to certain offenses”.
American weapons
The SQ communications coordinator, Benoit Richard, and Michel Patenaude revealed that 126 firearms have been seized in connection with the drug war since September. Of these, 83 are prohibited handguns.
“Half or almost all are from the United States and returned illegally. […] We have identified several buyers of American firearms intended for Quebec and we are working with our American partners to intervene before these firearms return to the country,” assured the director of criminal investigations.
The SQ has been working hard to stop the drug war in 2024
- More than 320 arrests directly or indirectly linked to the conflict
- 126 firearms seized since September 2024
- 83 prohibited handguns confiscated
