An arson fire partially damaged the premises of a Hells Angels school club, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, in Alma, Lac-Saint-Jean, we learned The Press.
“Around one o’clock, patrollers from the MRC du Lac-Saint-Jean est who were patrolling the area of rue Lévis in Alma noticed that smoke was escaping from a garage,” says Sergeant Nancy Fournier of the Sûreté du Québec.
Mme Fournier was unable to say who owns the affected building but according to our information, it is a premises frequented by the Devils Ghosts, the school club of the Hells Angels.
“At the time of the event, the building was unoccupied. Firefighters intervened to put out an early fire. The damage is limited. Since suspicious elements were found, a perimeter was set up and an investigator and a fire scene technician came to the scene,” adds Sergeant Fournier.
In the Quebec and Beauce regions, fires and other violent events, including the murder of a Hells Angels associate, Michel Guérin, occurred before the holidays.
According to our information, these events were committed as part of a conflict between at least one member of the Hells Angels from the Quebec section and independent traffickers, supported by members of street gangs from Montreal.
It is too early to conclude that the fire at the premises controlled by the Devils Ghosts in Alma could be linked to a conflict between bikers and independent traffickers in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
“For the moment, it is not excluded that this event is linked to a conflict in the underworld but it is still too early to make such a hypothesis. We are still collecting the information,” continues Nancy Fournier.
Quieter in Quebec and Beauce
The last – or one of the last – events recorded and known in the context of the conflict between independent traffickers and the Hells Angels of Quebec occurred on December 21, when shots were fired in the direction of the den of ‘another school club of the Hells Angels, the Dark Souls, on the 2e rank, in Frampton in Beauce.
The conflict apparently began after an independent trafficker in the Quebec region stopped obtaining cocaine from a member of the Hells Angels.
Sources in the criminal sector indicated to La Presse that meetings took place during the holiday season to resolve this conflict, but no one in authority in the criminal sector or within the police has confirmed this information, nor that a settlement would have been reached between the opponents.
Remember that on December 19, the Hells Angels premises in Hérouxville, in Mauricie, was also the target of gunfire.
Violent events opposing criminal groups, including shootings at buildings in Chute-aux-Outardes, also took place last fall on the North Shore.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.