At least 32 arrests have been made so far in Quebec, but also outside the province, as part of the police operation aimed at putting an end to the drug war which is mainly raging in Quebec.
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The director of criminal investigations of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Michel Patenaude, however specified that other arrests were planned across the province in the coming weeks and months.
The director of criminal investigations of the Sûreté du Québec, Michel Patenaude
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
The arrested individuals face charges including arson, forcible confinement, kidnapping, drug possession and trafficking, attempted murder, theft, home invasion and illegal possession of a weapon. fire.
Arrested in Ontario
Wednesday evening, a Quebecer was arrested in Ontario, in connection with the kidnapping of Michael Chouinard, which occurred in Saguenay on February 21. Other arrests could take place outside the province of Quebec, Mr. Patenaude suggested.
So far, around forty searches have also been carried out, leading to the seizure of drugs, including cocaine, and firearms.
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“We gave it a good shot”
“We gave it a good shot [en procédant à l’arrestation de membres de groupes criminalisés] […] It’s a beginning. […] We have not finished and we will never finish,” he said at a press briefing Thursday at the SQ headquarters.
Initiated since last spring, the operation aimed at putting an end to the drug war in Quebec intensified this week, following the hostage taking in Saint-Malachie and the kidnapping of Michael Chouinard in Saguenay.
In the center, the head of investigations and specialized services at the Quebec City Police Department, Marie-Manon Savard
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Less visible police officers
Mr. Patenaude emphasizes that the objective was in particular to be “visible to reassure the population”. However, the police will soon be less visible, while “investigations continue,” he said.
For her part, the head of investigations and specialized services at the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ), Marie-Manon Savard, indicated that, since the beginning of the week, 11 arrests had been made as part of this same operation. All individuals are linked to Dave “Pic” Turmel’s gang, the Blood Family Mafia.
In Lévis, more than a dozen individuals are targeted by criminal charges in connection with around twenty violent events that occurred as part of this operation, underlined the deputy director of the Police Service, Réjean Langlois.
Since the start of the drug conflict, Lévis police officers have worked 1,500 hours of overtime. No other police force involved in the operation was able to quantify their overtime hours for this operation.
Arrest abroad
Furthermore, Mr. Patenaude did not wish to give more details on the current steps aimed at getting hold of Dave “Pic” Turmel, currently under arrest warrant.
“Whether it is to look for people in other provinces or in other countries, these are investigative processes which are underway or not, which remain privileged for us, so we do not talk about them,” he said.