Patrick Laurendeau Shooters Apprehended & 6 BFM Affiliates Arrested In Sept-Iles

It’s still too early to say who had ordered the hit on Patrick Laurendeau which had played out the 7th of September and only resulted in Laurendeau getting shot in the shoulder and forearm. Although we do not know who set out the order, 3 suspects have been apprehended in the shooting which had occurred earlier this month. As we’ve seen with many of these violent events in relation to the BFM drug war, all 3 suspects hailed from Montreal.

6 suspects were arrested in Sept-Iles today for mainly drug-trafficking by authorities. These six suspects were suspected of having ties to the Blood Family Mafia. Let’s not forget the death of Andre Bourgoin which had occurred weeks prior in Mont-Joli, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, just south past the Saint Lawrence riverway of the Cote Nord region.

Laurendeau Shooters Apprehended

Zayed Bouday, 27-years-old, Mohamed Ziad Benali, 25-years-old, and Ziad Alrayes, 21-years-old, have all been handed three charges which included attempted murder and unloading a firearm with the intent to harm a man without regard to their public surroundings. Alrayes and Benali had appeared in court earlier today (25/09/2024) while Bouday is set to appear in court Thursday. As mentioned previously, all 3 suspects are from Montreal.

The three suspects accused have no criminal past, although two of them have been accused of lesser crimes. Mohamed Ziad Benali is accused of criminal harassment and of theft. All the while Ziad Alrayes is also accused of criminal harassment for a crime which took place in May of 2023. The latter appeared in court at the very beginning of September relating to the incident which occurred in May of last year.

Patrick Laurendeau was targeted Saturday morning towards 10:30am after leaving his house. The alleged three shooters had fired a short number of rounds from a vehicle and later set the vehicle used in the crime on fire, which police found shortly after. The incident happened in Val-Belair, a neighborhood in Quebec City, located to the North.

Laurendeau is no innocent man. In 2005, he was arrested in a drug-trafficking operation named Operation Despote; a police operation which targeted the Hells Angels MC. Let’s not forget the fact that Michel ‘Doune’ Guerin was also arrested throughout this operation. Guerin was assassinated in November of 2023 outside of his home in relation to the BFM drug war.

On top of his drug trafficking conviction, he has also been accused of extorting clients in his excavation business, threatening to leave a hole in their backyards if they refused to pay an augmented price for the hopes of an inground pool. This more recent scam had taken place in coalition with Piscine Elegance.

Authorities initially had the Blood Family Mafia in their sights for the Laurendeau shooting, but as the investigations continue, they are now forming a hypothesis in which might bring to light the shooting might have been ordered by the HAMC.

6 BFM Affiliates Arrested In Sept-Iles

The events which led to the six arrests, one being a woman, occurred between the 11th of September to the 25th of September. A joint task force which consisted of SQ (Quebec Provincial Police) and the Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam public security had assisted in five search warrants, three of which had taken place in the town of Sept-Iles. Police seized cocaine and cash money throughout their efforts. Authorities haven’t unveiled to the public the specific amount of contraband seized.

Only three of those six arrested are facing charges in relation to drug trafficking, being listed as followed; Jimmy Chiasson, Jeremy Chiasson and Mathieu Bouchard. Jean-Samuel Chiasson is also facing charges along with previously mentioned Mathieu Bouchard for being in possession of a firearm for which they did not have a license, found in their presence in a vehicle they were occupying.

The mayor of Sept-Iles, Denis Miousse had asked for help from the government to combat an increase in violence in the Cote-Nord town, of which he was granted the help he had asked. He noted in an interview with TVA, how police mentioned to him that ‘gangs’ or criminal cliques had always been prevalent to Sept-Iles although unsure of whether the Blood Family Mafia had planted their flag in the small town.

This concludes the most recent news which correlates to the ongoing strife between the Blood Family Mafia and the bikers, who seem to be ramping up the drug war to a new echelon, given the events of the past few weeks. It’s clear that what started out as a local street gang has had immense success in spreading their tentacles across the province in the recent year.