Montreal police have arrested two alleged synthetic drug traffickers who were very active on social media, members of a network that allegedly sold dangerous synthetic opioids to a young clientele, including Mathis Boivin, the 15-year-old teenager whose death by overdose shocked all of Quebec last winter.
The suspects, aged 24 and 17, were arrested on Tuesday afternoon.
“These arrests are the result of a months-long investigation that began following the overdose death of a 15-year-old boy in December 2023 in the Sud-Ouest borough. The police operation was led by the South Criminal Investigation Division (Narcotics), with the support of several specialized SPVM units,” the police force confirmed.
Searches also took place Tuesday in three homes located in the boroughs of Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, as well as inside a vehicle.
“Several hundred counterfeit tablets that looked like pharmaceuticals were seized. The investigation shows that these counterfeit tablets are in reality dangerous synthetic opioids (isotonitazene type) that can cause overdoses,” says the SPVM.
The suspects are due to appear tomorrow at the Montreal courthouse.
Mathis Boivin, 15, had bought pills on the black market shortly before last Christmas. The blue pills looked like oxycontin pills, but contained molecules from the nitazene family. The night he died, he ate with his family, then went to bed. He took a pill and died in his room.
“I was three metres away from him, in the house. It doesn’t make sense… You’re right next to your child,” his father, Christian Boivin, lamented in an interview with columnist Patrick Lagacé. The father’s testimony had made the rounds of Quebec, on social media and on the show Everyone is talking about itand provoked a societal reflection on the dangers of new synthetic drugs.
As soon as the teenager died, investigators from the SPVM’s South Operational Centre began tracking down the network. It is difficult to pin down this type of dealer hidden behind social media accounts. Even if the police can demonstrate that a suspect frequently acted as an administrator of the “store”, it must be demonstrated that it was indeed the suspect who acted during a specific transaction, and not another person who had access to the account.
In April, Public Health issued an alert to the Montreal population regarding the “significant” circulation of tablets containing nitazenes “up to 25 times more powerful” than fentanyl.
According to our information, investigators have proof that Mathis Boivin had purchased his pills from the network to which the two arrested suspects are suspected of belonging. However, the SPVM mentions that they will simply be charged with charges related to drug trafficking, and not related to the death.
With the collaboration of Daniel Renaud