(Quebec) The capital is the scene of a bloody war between factions of organized crime which is particularly “taxing” for Quebec police officers, said Wednesday the head of the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ).
Denis Turcotte confirmed Wednesday during a presentation to elected officials that the capital was grappling with a significant increase in violence between members of organized crime.
Several police sources said that for months a conflict has pitted the Hells Angels against a group of traffickers led by David “Pic” Turmel. The latter would refuse to obtain cocaine from the Hells, thus depriving the bikers of an important source of income.
A former biker who was very influential in the capital, Michel “Doune” Guérin, was found riddled with bullets in front of his home at the end of November. Warehouses linked to bikers were recently set on fire in Beauce. Wednesday, the Quebec Journal reported that two members of a Hells Angels school club were stabbed at the end of October at the Quebec detention center.
“We definitely had a big year. We won’t hide it. It’s not a big year in terms of volume, but in terms of type of crime,” police chief Denis Turcotte said solemnly to elected officials on Wednesday, during the plenary budget committees.
The head of the SPVQ confirms that factions of organized crime are waging war for control of drug trafficking. Mr. Turcotte gave an idea on Wednesday of the extent of these conflicts in the capital: organized crime would be responsible for more than half of the seven homicides in Quebec in 2023, in addition to having.
“In the last three years, we have had an average of around four murders per year. But these are not murders linked to organized crime, they are linked to mental health, to intra-family problems,” explained Mr. Turcotte.
“But this year, we have four murders directly linked to criminal organizations in addition to an attempted murder and we have reached 13 arsons directly linked to criminal groups. »
All the police officers in the capital “are mobilized”, but arrive at the end of 2023 “tired”. “It’s very taxing on the staff,” he said.
A municipal councilor deplored the “mist above Quebec”. How to dissipate this mist?
The head of the SPVQ recently requested emergency financial aid from Quebec to fight against armed violence. The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, refused, suggesting that the SPVQ could ask the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) for help.
The chief needs these sums, which he has not quantified, to improve his intelligence and prevention services.
“To be even more effective and prevent these murders, these fires, all this armed violence,” he said. I asked for provincial funding, because it is a provincial problem, it is not just linked to Quebec City. »