As of December 27, 187 gunfire events had occurred in Montreal since the start of 2021, 44 more than the 143 episodes of 2020, a 30% increase.
This is what statistics provided to Press by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
Of these 187 events in 2021, 121 are casualty firearms discharges, 50 are attempted murders and 16 are murders, including a triple murder that occurred in August, in the Rivière-des-Prairies district.
High intensity gunfire events, that is, events in which several projectiles were fired, were again numerous this year in Montreal.
Press compared two tables of firearm discharge events that occurred in Montreal in 2020 and 2021 and prepared by Detective Sergeant Marc-André Dubé, of the National Support Team Firearms Enforcement Act (ENSALA), which reports to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The 2021 table, however, ends on August 24. We therefore had to compare the figures for the two years for the period from 1er January to August 24 inclusively.
During this period, investigator Dubé noted 220 casings struck in 2020 compared to 367 this year, an increase of 67%.
In 2020, gunfire events were more numerous than the previous year in Montreal. So the upward trend that started at the end of 2019 has continued this year.
“Montreal is still a safe city”, says the SPVM
A greater circulation of firearms bought especially with fraud money, a gun culture present among street gangs and in rap videos, conflicts amplified by social networks, etc. : The causes to explain this increase in firearms events in Montreal are many and varied, according to experts.
Despite everything, the SPVM is reassuring. The launch of the Quietude strategy at the end of 2019, the creation of the Firearms Trafficking Team (ELTA) now integrated into the Quebec Centaure strategy, the recent creation of multisectoral teams dedicated to firearms ( EMAF) and the adoption of a strategic plan: the spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, Chief Inspector Sébastien de Montigny, recalls everything that has been done by the SPVM and all the efforts made moving forward to continue to tackle the problem.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Sébastien de Montigny, responsible for the integrated strategy in armed violence at the SPVM
“We understand the phenomenon well and we are aware of what is happening. Our reading of the environment and the issue is good and this guides our actions. Montreal is still a safe city, but we want to make it even safer and step up our efforts to seize more firearms and prevent violent crimes, ”said the officer responsible for the integrated strategy in armed violence.
Over 600 illegal firearms seized
As of November 30, the SPVM had seized 607 firearms – voluntarily returned by excluded citizens – since the start of 2021, a slight increase compared to 593 for the same period in 2020 and 561 in 2019.
It should be noted, among other things, that on August 12, investigators from the Organized Crime Division of the SPVM seized 15 firearms – handguns and long guns – magazines, silencers and ammunition in two buildings east of Montreal.
Two men were arrested following the discovery of this arsenal which could be linked to bikers.
In Montreal, it is common for weapons seizures to also lead to drug seizures (see text in the next tab).
The SPVM hopes to be able to make even more seizures in 2022 with, among other things, its participation in the Integrated Firearms Control Team (EILTA) of the Centaur strategy and its two multisectoral teams dedicated to firearms created in the north. -est and in the southwest of the island of Montreal.
“Firearms investigations take time. We have to develop sources. There is no cooperation in the world of street gangs, our attempted murder victims do not speak to us, the witnesses are not very talkative and the citizens are also afraid. But one thing that is interesting is that we have a lot of calls to 911 and Info-Crime, and we have a lot of information coming in via these platforms, ”concludes Chief Inspector de Montigny.
In numbers
41
Number of shooting events that have occurred in Laval this year, as of December 20, compared to 40 last year, according to figures from the Service de police de Laval
418
Number of illegal handguns seized by customs officials this year, as of November 16, compared to 187 for the whole of last year, more than twice as many (up 123%), according to statistics obtained from from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
127
Number of semi-automatic pistols seized by customs officials this year, compared to 58 for the whole of last year, also an increase of 123%.
On the other hand, it should be noted that there was a significant decrease in seizures in these two categories of weapons in 2020, compared to previous years, as shown in the table below:
The Sûreté du Québec was not able to provide a partial assessment of the first months of activity of the Quebec Centaure strategy, but indicates that “a large part of the illegal firearms found in Quebec come from the United States” .
The SQ also maintains that “85% of firearms originating in the United States are handguns and that approximately 60% of firearms found on the underground internet come from the United States”.
The SPVM seized at least 10 million drugs
A sign that the police have been busy, but also that illicit drugs are circulating happily in Montreal, SPVM investigators seized more than $ 10 million in narcotics of all kinds, in 2021, in the metropolis.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SPVM
Part of the record seizure of 2.25 kg of fentanyl valued at $ 1.4 million last April by the SPVM
It should be noted, among other things, that in March, investigators from the Organized Crime Division (DCO) of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) made a record seizure of 49 kg of crystal methamphetamine (crystal meth) and 50 kg of cocaine – estimated at more than 3 million – in the boroughs of Lachine and Pierrefonds-Roxboro as well as in the municipality of Côte-Saint-Luc, in the west of the island.
Three months later, investigators from the same division got their hands on 20 kg of cocaine, estimated at 1.4 million, and more than 200,000 methamphetamine tablets during the dismantling of a network of suspected traffickers who operated in particular on the Plateau Mont-Royal and which would have been managed by a former member of the Rockers, the late Hells Angels club-school, Jean-Guy Bourgouin.
At about the same time, DCO sleuths also seized 11 kg of cocaine and 18 kg of pure methamphetamine from a home in the Beaconsfield area that an alleged trafficker allegedly used as a drug cache.
“The price per kilogram of cocaine was around $ 45,000 before the pandemic and it is around $ 36,000 now. It’s been a long time since the price was so low. It is supply and demand. If the kilo is at $ 36,000, that means that there is an exceptional offer and that it is full. And if it comes in full, it’s because it sells in full ”, declared to Press at the beginning of December, Commander Francis Renaud, from the Organized Crime Division of the SPVM.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Francis Renaud, Commander of the Organized Crime Division of the SPVM
“With the price per kilo at $ 36,000, it is normal that we make large seizures, because there is a good demand and the supply is there”, adds the officer.
Record seizure of fentanyl
The narcotics investigators stationed in the four regions of the SPVM, who also come under the Organized Crime Division, are not left out either.
Investigators in the South region in April made a record seizure of 2.25 kg of fentanyl estimated at 1.4 million. Fentanyl is an opioid 40 times more potent than heroin which wreaks havoc, especially in the rest of Canada and the United States, where thousands of people die of fatal overdoses every year.
Note also that investigators in the West region made in four months – between June and September – two major seizures of opiates and synthetic drugs evaluated in total at nearly 5 million.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of Press.