One of the largest operations to dismantle a narcotics network in Quebec led Wednesday morning to the arrest of fifteen suspects by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
A total of 14 men and one woman were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the major dismantling of an amphetamines trafficking ring in May 2022.
The suspects were mostly arrested at their homes in Montreal, Laval, Boucherville, Rosemère, Shawinigan and La Malbaie, the SPVM said in a press release.
They will appear Wednesday afternoon to face charges of production of narcotics, possession for the purpose of trafficking, drug trafficking and conspiracies related to this trafficking, specifies the SPVM. For some alleged offenders, gangsterism charges will also be laid.
On May 25, 2022, the SPVM’s Organized Crime Division carried out a major police intervention in Montreal and several regions of Quebec. “It’s our Quebec Breaking Bad,” Francis Renaud, commander of the SPVM’s Organized Crime Division, told La Presse at the time.
This narcotics network distributed up to 5 million amphetamines in Quebec per week, according to the SPVM investigation. In a series of 28 searches, the police department seized 6.5 million amphetamine tablets, 21 firearms, 481 kg of methamphetamine powder, 11 kg of pure meth, 5,000 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets, hundreds of Cialis and Xanax pills, 13 pill presses, 1,002 punches with various designs, 250,000 packaging bags, 10 cell phones and a computer, and nearly $300,000 in cash.
These seizures took place in Montreal, Laval, the Laurentians, Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie.
“The scale of the seizures made is a blow to organized crime, depriving criminals of an important source of income to finance, among other things, the purchase of firearms,” ​​the SPVM said in a press release.
“We completely pulled the rug out from under this organization,” Francis Renaud told La Presse at the time.
