Early morning raid nets over twenty Montreal mobsters
Police swept up at least 25 people in and around Montreal early Wednesday in a drug bust targeting members of the city’s Mafia.
As early as 4:30 a.m., dozens of cops descended on homes in east-end Montreal, Laval and Terrebonne, arresting at least 20 people and executing about 40 search warrants. Police say the raid has dismantled a cocaine-trafficking network that operated out of Italian cafés in St-Leonard alongside establishments in Montreal North and Anjou.
The raids continued as of 8:30 a.m., with more arrests expected before noon Wednesday.
Reports from La Presse suggest the arrests are linked to the associates of alleged mobster Raynald Desjardins, the former right-hand man of mobster Vito Rizutto. The investigation, dubbed operation Argot, is spearheaded by the Montreal police. Argot targets cocaine and marijuana distribution rings and involves officers from the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP.
“Right now I can confirm that this was mainly the Italian mob but there could be other gangs involved,” said Sgt. Jean-Bruno Latour of Montreal police. “It’s still early, we’ll have a lot more to report later in the day.”
Police have centred their efforts on an apartment building in Anjou believed to be the network’s stash house. Montreal’s SWAT team was on hand for the search and seizure in the Jean Latour St. building.
Montreal’s mob has been embroiled in a violent power struggle for the past several years, causing bloodshed at the highest levels of the city’s organized crime. It’s believed that street gangs in the city’s north end have been enlisted to carry out several killings on behalf of rival mob factions, with several street gang leaders themselves being caught in the crossfire.
Last week, four men believed to be associated with the Bo-Gars gang were arrested in connection with the shooting death of Gaétan Gosselin, a business associate of Desjardins.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montreal+area+drug+bust+least+arrests+target+members+city+Mafia/8449140/story.html
As early as 4:30 a.m., dozens of cops descended on homes in east-end Montreal, Laval and Terrebonne, arresting at least 20 people and executing about 40 search warrants. Police say the raid has dismantled a cocaine-trafficking network that operated out of Italian cafés in St-Leonard alongside establishments in Montreal North and Anjou.
The raids continued as of 8:30 a.m., with more arrests expected before noon Wednesday.
Reports from La Presse suggest the arrests are linked to the associates of alleged mobster Raynald Desjardins, the former right-hand man of mobster Vito Rizutto. The investigation, dubbed operation Argot, is spearheaded by the Montreal police. Argot targets cocaine and marijuana distribution rings and involves officers from the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP.
“Right now I can confirm that this was mainly the Italian mob but there could be other gangs involved,” said Sgt. Jean-Bruno Latour of Montreal police. “It’s still early, we’ll have a lot more to report later in the day.”
Police have centred their efforts on an apartment building in Anjou believed to be the network’s stash house. Montreal’s SWAT team was on hand for the search and seizure in the Jean Latour St. building.
Montreal’s mob has been embroiled in a violent power struggle for the past several years, causing bloodshed at the highest levels of the city’s organized crime. It’s believed that street gangs in the city’s north end have been enlisted to carry out several killings on behalf of rival mob factions, with several street gang leaders themselves being caught in the crossfire.
Last week, four men believed to be associated with the Bo-Gars gang were arrested in connection with the shooting death of Gaétan Gosselin, a business associate of Desjardins.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Montreal+area+drug+bust+least+arrests+target+members+city+Mafia/8449140/story.html
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