A major operation Wednesday linked to the drive-by shooting death of a teenager last month resulted in eight arrests and netted police a wealth of evidence, a senior Montreal police officer said.
Cmdr. Jean-Sebastien Caron, head of the Montreal police major-crimes unit, said the goal was not to arrest a murder suspect but to gather evidence necessary for the probe.
Police said they conducted nine seizures connected with the March 19 death of Khaled Mouloudj, 18, in the east-end Montreal borough of Anjou. He was gunned down on a sidewalk at about 10 p.m. by a suspect or suspects believed to have fired from a vehicle.
Caron told reporters at an east-end police station that a conflict between two criminal gangs was at the centre of the fatal attack, and the police focus on Wednesday was the group that was allegedly behind the attack.
Some 175 officers from several forces participated in the raids, including officers with the Montreal, Longueuil and provincial police forces.
The eight people arrested, aged between 18 and 20 years old, were being questioned by police. Caron said they could face breach of conditions charges.
Police also uncovered equipment used to steal vehicles, he said, so other charges could be pending.