Montreal police officers want to listen more closely to parents in order to prevent their teenagers from finding themselves stuck in a criminal spiral, on the sidelines of a wave of extortion, particularly perpetrated by minors.
• Also read: Who are the young, violent and unstable gangs that terrorize Montreal?
• Also read: Fires and gunshots: nothing is going well for lawyer Émile Benamor
• Also read: He demanded $2000 monthly: accused of extortion from a small restaurant
“If someone knocks on your door, we are not there by chance. We have information and observations that allow us to believe that your child is heading down the wrong path, underlined the head of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), Fady Dagher. It’s not because we want to arrest your young person, we want to avoid arresting your young person.”
Fady Dagher recently saw “too many unfortunate or fatal examples in Montreal with young people whose parents had already been approached, who did not believe that they were heading towards a criminal trajectory.”
This is because increasingly younger teenagers, sometimes even as young as 12, are now being recruited by street gangs in order to carry out criminal acts, particularly linked to extortion.
“It’s disgusting. It’s cowardly. […] Criminal circles know how to trap them, how to make them feel important,” Fady Dagher spontaneously said at a press conference on Thursday.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
Several warning signs can be observed in these teenagers: a change in class attendance, poor attendance, late return times or running away.
Francis Renaud, commander of the SPVM’s Organized Crime Division, emphasizes that these young criminals want to be “famous” and can “obtain the equivalent of six months’ salary at McDonald’s in one evening.”
Last week, seven teenagers aged 14 to 17 were arrested in connection with gun discharges, arson and extortion. According to our information, they have links with the STL street gang, which bears the name of the neighborhood from which it comes, Saint-Léonard.
The Journal reported Thursday that the police were studying the hypothesis that this gang was involved in the fire that occurred in Old Montreal a week ago, which cost the lives of a French tourist and her 7-year-old daughter.
Some traders have since notified the SPVM that they have also been victims of extortion, according to Commander Renaud.
His team, now responsible for all cases linked to this phenomenon, is currently investigating around thirty cases, he confirmed at a press conference.
Francis Renaud underlines that “currently, these traders do not know where to turn because there are different factions which use extortion”.
“If you are a trader and have been the victim of threats, do not give in to them. Contact us quickly to let us know the situation,” says Fady Dagher.
– With Maxime Deland, QMI Agency