Since early Thursday morning, police have been carrying out a series of searches in Mauricie aimed at dismantling a network of drug traffickers linked to the Hells Angels.
Police officers from the Mauricie Regional Mixed Squad (ERM), helped by their colleagues from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Trois-Rivières police, the Montreal City Police Service and the Montreal Provincial Police Ontario are carrying out these searches in the areas of Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan, Bécancour, Saint-Célestin, Louiseville, Saint-Ubalde, Grand-Saint-Esprit and Victoriaville.
In total, bloodhounds must search 25 residences and 18 vehicles, and more than 200 police officers are participating in the operation.
“The operation is an investigative phase which has the ultimate goal of putting an end to the activities of an active criminal network believed to be linked to the Hells Angels. This network engages in the trafficking and distribution of narcotics (methamphetamine and cocaine) at high volumes,” indicates the Sûreté du Québec in a press release.
Other searches have been carried out in recent months as part of this investigation called Raquer.
On August 31, investigators notably searched 14 locations, notably in Montreal.
They also carried out searches in June and Wednesday of this week, again in the metropolis.
According to our information, until now, the police have got their hands on a few dozen kilograms of cocaine and tens of thousands of methamphetamine tablets, but also on certain quantities of cannabis, hashish and crystal meth.
Thursday morning’s operation consists of searches during an investigation. No arrests are planned at this time.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.