Met at the weekend by the police officers of Centaure, the Quebec strategy for the fight against firearms, influential members of organized crime have dissociated themselves from the armed violence which has shaken Montreal for almost three years, according to what police sources confided. at The Press.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
“It’s not us,” a gang leader and a member of the Hells Angels told police officers who visited bars and restaurants and invited themselves to a wedding, a funeral and a musical event to highlight pressure and send the message that gun violence will not be tolerated.
One of the police claims is that many firearms that end up on the black market were illegally imported by organized crime.
Pointing to disorganized street gang cliques and rappers as the main culprits behind most of the shooting events in the metropolis in recent years, organized crime members however said they were not insensitive to the situation. and that they themselves, or a member of their family, could be victims of these episodes of violence.
Note, however, that of the 14 firearm murders that have occurred in Montreal since the beginning of the year, at least six, or nearly half, are linked to organized crime, according to our information.
This would be the case in particular for the two homicides which occurred half an hour apart last week, one of which was committed in the middle of a restaurant terrace.
On the other hand, more than 80 shots were fired during two events which occurred in the east of Montreal two weeks ago and these, the police attribute them to a clique linked to a street gang.
“500 criminalized individuals” arrested
Between Friday evening and Sunday morning, more than 200 police officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Service de police de Laval ( SPL), the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service (SPAL) and a dozen other police forces visited 118 “licensed establishments” in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil and in the southern and northern crowns of the metropolis , and arrested no less than “500 criminalized individuals”, our sources told us.
Among these individuals are the names of Leonardo Rizzuto, youngest son of the late Mafia godfather Vito Rizzuto, Hells Angel of the Montreal section Martin Robert, considered by the SQ to be the most influential Hells Angel in Quebec, Francesco Del Balso, former lieutenant of the Sicilian clan convicted in the wake of Operation Colisée in 2006, and gang leader Jean-Philippe Célestin, close to Gregory Woolley and very present in the Berri square and the Gay Village in Montreal.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Several members of the Hells Angels of Trois-Rivières and the South section were arrested by the Centaure strategy police officers in Sainte-Émélie-de-l’Énergie on the weekend.
In addition to the 118 establishments visited, the police also visited a reception hall where the wedding of the son of a member of the Montreal mafia was celebrated, the Fuego Fuego Latin music festival in Montreal and the funeral of a member of the Destroyers of Lanaudière, school club of the Hells Angels, celebrated in Sainte-Émélie-de-l’Énergie.
According to our information, nearly 130 bikers wearing their jackets attended the funeral, including almost all of the Hells Angels of Trois-Rivières, their former member Mario Brouillette and the latter’s father, Aurèle Brouillette (member of the Hells Angels of the Dominican Republic), as well as some members of the Hells Angels of the South section.
During the operation, nine individuals were arrested for obstructing police work, assaulting a peace officer, breach of condition, intimidation, impersonation, etc., and statements of offense have been given.
It was the sixth such operation carried out under the Centaur strategy since its launch almost a year ago.
From now on, Centaur officials want to conduct this kind of operation more regularly on weekends.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press. Number of murders by firearm out of the 14 committed since the year in Montreal linked to organized crime according to information from La Presse