MONTREAL – Officers from the Montreal Police, the Quebec provincial police, the RCMP, Laval and Terrebonne police joined forces on Wednesday to bust an “active” network of drug-traffickers in the city’s east end.
Described by police as the “next generation” of mobsters, the gang allegedly has no connection to reputed godfather Vito Rizzuto.
“The average age of the people apprehended this morning is 30 years old. Why am I mentioning this? They are the new people,” Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere told reporters at a press conference Wednesday.
Police arrested at least 20 people and executed search warrants at 25 homes in St-Leonard, Anjou, Riviere-des-Prairies, and Terrebonne. The network is suspected of trafficking cocaine, marijuana and other drugs to Italian coffee shops.
“They were controlling all the dope that was distributed on the eastern part of the island. Yes, they were a big deal for us,” Cmdr. Lafreniere said.
Published reports said the network had links to mob leader Raynald Desjardins. He is currently behind bars awaiting trial for the murder of Salvatore Montagna.
More than 100 police officers took part in Wednesday’s operation. The network was under investigation for two years. It’s believed it used an apartment building on Joseph-Renaud Boulevard in Anjou as its home base.
Police say at least 29 guns were seized in today’s bust. The weapons are being analyzed to determine if they were used in other crimes.
“This is not over. We have a message to people in organized crime: you’ll see us soon,” said Cmdr. Lafreniere.
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