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75 people fined $135,000 at illegal gathering in Quebec’s Lanaudière region

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COVID-19: 75 people fined $135,000 at illegal gathering in Quebec
WATCH: Seventy-five people are facing fines after an illegal gathering that violated COVID-19 rules in Sainte-Beatrix in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, provincial police said on Sunday. Officers say they obtained a warrant to enter the house and found 75 people, almost all from the Greater Montreal region – May 16, 2021

Seventy-five people are facing fines after an illegal gathering that violated COVID-19 rules in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, provincial police said Sunday.

A police spokeswoman says it was firefighters who called the authorities at about midnight Friday night to report people gathering at a house in Sainte-Beatrix, about 100 kilometres north of Montreal.

Local and provincial police arrived to find people fleeing on foot or barricading themselves in the house, according to spokeswoman Audrey-Ann Bilodeau. Two other police forces were called to help.

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Provincial police eventually obtained a warrant to enter, and found 75 people, almost all from the Greater Montreal region.

Police issued more than $135,000 worth of tickets, mostly for illegal gatherings. Currently, group gatherings in private homes are not allowed in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.

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Authorities also gave about 10 tickets for violating the 9:30 p.m. curfew, and about 20 for breaking municipal bylaws such as obstructing the work of police officers.

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