One of the largest operations to dismantle a narcotics network in Quebec led Wednesday morning to the arrest of fifteen suspects by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
A total of 14 men and one woman were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the major dismantling of an amphetamines trafficking network that occurred in May 2022.
The suspects were mostly arrested at their homes in Montreal, Laval, Boucherville, Rosemère, Shawinigan and La Malbaie, the SPVM said in a press release.
They will appear on Wednesday afternoon to face charges of production of narcotics, possession for the purpose of trafficking, drug trafficking and conspiracies related to this trafficking, specifies the SPVM. For some alleged offenders, gangsterism charges will also be laid.
A major dismantling
On May 25, 2022, the SPVM’s Organized Crime Division carried out a major police intervention in Montreal and in several regions of Quebec. ” It’s our breaking Bad of Quebec”, had then described Francis Renaud, commander of the Division of organized crime of the SPVM, to The Press.
This narcotics network distributed up to 5 million amphetamines in Quebec per week, according to the SPVM investigation. In a series of 28 searches, the police department seized 6.5 million amphetamine tablets, 21 firearms, 481 kg of methamphetamine powder, 11 kg of pure meth, 5,000 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets, hundreds of Cialis and Xanax pills, 13 pill-making presses, 1,002 punches with various designs, 250,000 packaging bags, 10 cell phones and a computer, and nearly $300,000 in cash.
These seizures took place in Montreal, Laval, the Laurentians, Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie.
“The scale of the seizures carried out is dealing a severe blow to organized crime, depriving criminals of an important source of income to finance, among other things, the purchase of firearms,” the SPVM said in a press release.
“We have completely pulled the rug out from under this organization”, had argued Francis Renaud to The Press at the moment.