Quebec provincial police conduct raid in Mohawk community of Kanesatake

Investigators with the Quebec provincial police’s financial crimes unit are conducting searches in a Mohawk community near Montreal.

The Mohawk Council of Kanesatake says provincial police are searching the band office and the health centre in connection with an investigation into the community’s COVID-19 task force.

The council said in a post on Facebook that the grand chief and the manager of the community’s health centre are co-operating with investigators.

Provincial police spokesman Sgt. Marc Tessier says he can’t comment on the nature of the police operation.

2:03 Coalition of groups hold ping-pong game calling for more attention to crisis in Kanesatake

The community has been officially served by provincial police since an Indigenous-led force was disbanded in 2005, but police rarely enter the community, which was the site of the 1990 Oka Crisis _ a 78-day standoff over land rights between Mohawk people and the Canadian Armed Forces.

Multiple media have reported that some Kanesatake community members are living under a climate of intimidation because of the lack of police authority on the territory and the alleged presence of organized crime.

2:03 Coalition of groups hold ping-pong game calling for more attention to crisis in Kanesatake

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