Some 200 police officers will try to put a stop to the war between the Hells Angels and drug traffickers in Quebec, while the largest police operation of the last 15 years takes place.
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Investigators from half a dozen police forces, including the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), arrived in the capital on Friday , to send a message to criminals who have increased acts of violence in Quebec, Beauce and Saguenay in recent months.
“Photo Agence QMI, René Baillargeon”
“The message is clear, it is that we are going to attack all the people who commit these crimes, and we are going to bring them before the courts in the coming days,” said Lieutenant Benoit Richard, lieutenant coordinator to the communications of the SQ, during a press briefing held early in the afternoon in Quebec.
The objective is to “make arrests,” he continued. At the time of writing, eight people had been arrested. Three of them – two men aged 22 and 38 and a woman aged 37 – were handcuffed in the morning, in connection with the recent events that occurred in Saint-Malachie.
“It’s going to hit everywhere. And on both sides: as many HA [Hells Angels] than street gangs,” added one of our sources.
Members of the Hells Angels should indeed be met in the coming days (see other text). The police are also planning visibility operations, including visits to bars, to get their message across.
This is the first time in 15 years that such a police operation against organized crime has been carried out in Quebec. We must in fact go back to April 2009, when 2000 police officers were mobilized during Operation SharQc to strike a major blow at the expense of the Hells Angels.
- Listen to the interview with Éric Thibault, journalist at the Quebecor investigation office, via QUB:
Unbelievable brutality
At the start of the week, the police had to intervene and investigate a real butchery which left one dead and three injured in Saint-Malachie, in the Bellechasse region.
At the same time, our Bureau of Investigation made public a video of incredible brutality in which a man linked to the bikers had his ear cut off, in particular.
Then, Michael Chouinard was allegedly kidnapped in Saguenay on Wednesday. He was found a few hours later, in Montreal, missing a toe and a finger.
All this would have precipitated the intervention of the police. In less than a day, police officers from the CENTAURE strategy – which brings together various police forces whose mandate is to put pressure on organized crime and fight against armed violence in Quebec – mounted a police operation.
And the bloodhounds began to converge on the capital in the following hours. They will remain there “a few days or a few weeks”, depending on the progress of the investigations, said Lieutenant Benoit Richard.
“Photo Agence QMI René Baillargeon”
The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, was quick to praise the work of the police “for this operation which will continue as long as we do not put an end to the violence”.
“We know that the situation worried Quebecers. We had to send a clear message to criminals that we are sparing no effort to ensure the safety of the population. The operation deployed today demonstrates the importance and seriousness devoted to the fight against organized crime across Quebec,” he declared.
Other conflicts
The pressure from the authorities will not only be felt in Quebec. Other conflicts as well as violent incidents have taken place in recent months in Saguenay and on the North Shore. These conflicts would not all be linked to a war between independent traffickers and the Hells Angels, explained the Sûreté du Québec during an interview for the show I.
Remember that in Quebec, the conflict has been raging for a year while Dave “Pic” Turmel, a young 27-year-old criminal from Lévis, managed to bring together young members of street gangs who refuse to pay the Hells a tax 10% on drug sales.
A series of events linked to organized crime
- February 21, 2024: Michael Chouinard, a 28-year-old Saguenéan, was allegedly kidnapped. He was found the following night, missing a toe and a finger.
- On the night of February 18 to 19, 2024: A relative of the Hells Angels taken hostage and tortured allegedly killed one of his attackers, before escaping to seek help from neighbors in Saint-Malachie. Patrick Martin, a 29-year-old man, died and three individuals aged 21 to 51 were injured.
- February 19, 2024: Our Bureau of Investigation reveals a video in which henchmen from the gang led by Dave Turmel filmed themselves beating and torturing two close friends of the Hells Angels.
- December 21, 2023: Shots were reportedly fired near a Dark Souls den, a school club of the Hells Angels, in Frampton, in Beauce.
- December 10, 2023: A used car dealership in Lévis, believed to be linked to Hells Angels Martin Gamache, is targeted by arson.
- December 6, 2023: Three heavily armed individuals are arrested in Beauce by the Sûreté du Québec, because they feared that they were going to commit a murder.
- November 27, 2023: Michel “Doune” Guérin, 57, is murdered in front of a residence in Charlesbourg. The former biker had been informed the previous week by the police that his life was threatened.
- November 3, 2023: A double murder attempt occurs in broad daylight, around 2 p.m., while a vehicle traveling on Highway 40 is targeted by gunfire.
- October 23, 2023: Alain Charbonneau, 50, is murdered in a residence in Vanier.
- August 24, 2023: Keven Plante-Ménard, 25, was shot and killed in his apartment in Limoilou.
- August 22, 2023: Ali Bolduc-Chouaibi, 23, is stabbed in front of an apartment building in Limoilou.
- March 7, 2023: The residence of Hells Angels Mathieu Pelletier is targeted by gunfire.