An old Hells Angels driver, member of the Montreal section, Christian Daneault, 63, was arrested Wednesday morning during two drug operations carried out simultaneously in the Drummondville and Saguenay regions, has learned Press.
According to our information, about twenty individuals, including two members of the Head Hunters, a Hells Angels school club which has sections in Drummondville and Saguenay, have or will also be arrested in the sectors of these two cities.
This is the final phase of two separate investigations, dubbed Quadrant and Quinine, carried out in parallel against drug trafficking networks operating in these two regions.
The investigations were initiated in the summer of 2020. Last June, the bloodhounds carried out searches in the regions of Drummondville and Saguenay, and seized six kilograms of cocaine, 2,000 grams of crystal meth and $ 50,000.
According to police theory, members of the Head Hunters managed the drug trafficking networks dismantled Wednesday morning and paid royalties to Daneault.
The latter should be charged with drug trafficking.
Well anchored in Drummondville
Christian Daneault and other members of the Hells Angels have reportedly been controlling illicit drug trafficking in the Drummondville region for years.
Often observed by the police before Operation SharQc in April 2009, Daneault is said to be much more discreet since his release in 2015-2016.
Arrested during Operation SharQc like almost all of the Quebec Hells Angels, Daneault, like most of his acolytes, pleaded guilty to a reduced count of conspiracy for murder and was sentenced to 12 years and seven months’ imprisonment. . But when you subtract the time spent in preventive detention, she only had nine months left to serve.
Daneault, who has several criminal records, was also arrested in two major SQ operations carried out in 2004 against traffickers, the Sud and Ziploc projects, but he was granted a stay of proceedings on all counts except one of concealment for which he was fined.
Christian Daneault was part of several Hells Angels school clubs during the 90s, including the Jokers Wildcard de Lavaltrie then sponsored by Maurice Boucher.
He was also a member of the Evil Ones and is said to have become the godfather of this subordinate group after graduating from the Hells Angels in 1999.
In the early 1990s, Daneault was apprehended for conspiracy with other individuals who are still active members of the Hells Angels today, Claude Gauthier and Serge Lebrasseur, but he was released from this charge.
In 2015, the police undermined a network of drug traffickers allegedly led by a wife of Christian Daneault, according to media reports.
Daneault is said to be close to Steven Collard, an aspiring Hells Angels arrested in May 2021 in the dismantling of a network of drug traffickers who operated in the Drummondville region. But this investigation would not be linked to the Quadrant investigation conducted Wednesday morning.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of La Presse.