Around twenty handguns including a submachine gun, thousands of rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines, more than 70 kilograms of cocaine, hundreds of thousands of methamphetamine tablets, tens of kilograms of crystal meth ; The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) allegedly dealt a heavy blow to a supply line of the Hells Angels in the Montreal section, we learned The Press.
According to our information, investigators from the Organized Crime Division of the SPVM, in collaboration with the section Gun & Gang of the Toronto police, carried out several searches Wednesday evening and overnight, in Montreal and the Queen City.
They would have gotten their hands on everything described above, and even more.
Trafficking accused
The arrested suspects, who all live in Montreal, are Alexandre Daigneault-O’Brien, 33, Keven Berthiaume, 30, Maxime Charrette, 24, Thierry Prévost-Chartree, 28, Tommy Lévesque, 25, from Montreal, Shahid Humayun, 25 years old, and Frédérique Tremblay, 32 years old.
They were accused of drug trafficking on Thursday morning at the Montreal courthouse. The alleged acts allegedly took place between January 8 and March 27, 2024.
Daigneault-O’Brien was arrested with around twenty other individuals in April 2019, following an investigation by Châteauguay police and the Sûreté du Québec.
During the searches, the police notably found 18 kilograms of cocaine, sums totaling $237,650 and around ten prohibited weapons.
Daigneault-O’Brien was then sentenced to 48 months in prison.
According to our information, at least one of the accused has links with a member of the Montreal Hells Angels.
Cheaper in Toronto
A kilogram currently sells for around $28,000 in the Montreal region.
So, in cocaine alone, the total value of the drugs seized would amount to almost 2 million.
However, a kilogram of cocaine would sell for a little less in Toronto, which would explain why individuals and criminal organizations from Quebec have frequently used the Toronto-Montreal corridor to obtain supplies in recent years.
For two years, the SPVM, in particular the Organized Crime Division, has increased operations and seizures against criminal groups who used this corridor.
An individual whom police consider to be a member of the Montreal mafia, Roberto Scoppa, is currently facing an extradition request to the United States to be tried for drug trafficking.
According to evidence collected by American police, Scoppa told alleged accomplices during the investigation that the Toronto-Montreal corridor was “burned”.
But clearly, individuals and criminal organizations from the Montreal region or elsewhere in Quebec continue to obtain supplies in the Queen City region.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.