A prominent member of the Arab Power group on parole headed for illegal freedom last November after learning he would have to wear a GPS bracelet the next day.
When the police arrested him seven months later, they found two firearms and the paraphernalia of the perfect fugitive, we learn from a decision by the Parole Board of Canada (CLCC) which has just revoked his release.
It was on November 4, 2023 that Faouzi Harmali learned that he would have to wear an electronic bracelet from the next day.
The same day, at 8 p.m., the curfew time he had to respect, he did not show up at his halfway house.
Thus began a run that lasted seven months. But on June 26, police officers from the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), who were already targeting Harmali as part of an investigation, found the place where he was hiding.
When he felt surrounded, Harmali fled in a hurry, throwing a firearm over a fence, but he was quickly subdued by members of the SPVM Tactical Intervention Group.
In his hiding place, the police discovered false identification documents, including a European Union passport, with his photo but assumed names, large sums of money in Canadian dollars, luxurious jewelry, a hood, cell phones, a contract for a safety box, a SIM card, a bulletproof vest with plate and ammunition, another loaded pistol, magazines and ammunition of different calibers.
A criminal escape?
Harmali has been serving a six-year sentence since 2021 for possession of a firearm. The case stemmed from an attempted murder committed against the gang leader – now murdered – Arsène Mompoint.
In its decision, the CLCC links Harmali to street gangs, without specifying which one he belongs to. But according to our sources, he is linked to the Arab Power group, suspected by the police of being involved in several violent events, including arson, committed in recent months in Montreal and elsewhere.
Harmali was automatically released after two thirds of his sentence in August 2023 before failing to reach justice three months later.
At the CLCC, he explained his flight by “several disappointments” experienced in incarceration, and by the fact that his first statutory release had been suspended without valid reason, according to him.
He did not want to talk about what he did during the period he was illegally at large, but authorities suspect him of committing crimes during his 224-day run.
“According to the information in the file, the charges currently weighing against you as well as the police information received suggest that you were back in your criminal cycle.
“It appears that this information comes from registered sources and alleges, among other things, that you regularly went to [caviardé dans le texte] and that you are known as an individual who executes murder contracts for people linked to organized crime. However, there is no information confirming that you would have executed such contracts during your period of illegal freedom,” the decision reads.
One story among others
Harmali’s life history summarized in the decision could be that of several of the young individuals currently suspected of being involved in armed violence in Montreal and elsewhere.
“You were born in [caviardé]. You subsequently immigrated to Canada with your family around the age of 13. Adaptation difficulties are reported in the file. According to you, you did not speak French and you attended an integration school. You ended up associating with individuals who had a similar background and who were involved in crime. This association comes to meet your needs for belonging and security and makes you believe in an existence that is easier and more comfortable than the path to take via the prosocial route,” writes the author of the decision.
PHOTO FILED IN COURT AND REPRODUCED BY HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE
Faouzi Harmali, in blue, photographed during a police surveillance
The CLCC also points out that Harmali committed 19 disciplinary offenses during his incarceration, that he possessed cell phones and that he was the leader of an institutional contraband trafficking network using drones.
Harmali has an extensive criminal history, including robbery, assault with a weapon, breaking and entering, assault, extortion, possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, home invasion, drug trafficking, theft, fraud and obstruction of a peace officer.
He was also acquitted of other serious charges: attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion.
“You display criminal values which seem to have crystallized over the years. You quickly acquired a taste for easy money and you had no scruples about resorting to crime (and/or violence) to achieve your goals and/or meet your needs,” writes the Commission, which imposes severe conditions on him for his upcoming statutory release.
Thus, Harmali will have to remain in a halfway house until the end of his sentence, return there every evening, will not be able to communicate with anyone connected to crime or gangs, except members of his family under certain conditions, will not be able to have more than one phone and one SIM card, must disclose all communications and operations made on the same device, must disclose all financial transactions, must follow and complete a program on violence, must seek or keep a job, will not be able to consume drugs and will not be able to frequent drinking establishments.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.