The HAMC is not the only faction facing flak from authorities, as two separate raids targeted towards the Blood Family Mafia occurred just last week. Both occurred on Quebec City’s south shore, some of these interventions even happened in Quebec City. The first set of raids were conducted last Wednesday morning, on the 14th of May; while the second occurred in Levis and Sainte-Claire on Thursday. These two events took place nearly 24 hours apart from each other. We’ll also cover two more raids which had occurred in March.
May 14th Raids
Early Wednesday morning, the GTI (Tactical Intervention Group) assisted in multiple raids throughout Levis and Quebec City. The SPVQ (Quebec Police Service), SPVL (Levis Police Service) and the Mauricie Mixed Regional Squad were the instigators of this event. Over 50 police officers had been assigned with the task. These were the fruits of an investigation launched in April.
A common reoccurrence in both events executed last week, is the number of people arrested thoughout. On Wednesday, the raids resulted in three men and two women arrested. Authorities gained the same results the morning after, three men, two women. Among the contraband seized on May 14th was a Glock pistol, 2200$ in cash, 11 cellphones and an unspecified amount of cocaine.
Two of the five people arrested on Wednesday were withheld. They later appeared in court; 33-year-old Roxanne Provonost, a Quebec City resident, was charged with failure to comply with conditions that had been set following the unfortunate downfall of events involving the law. The second was 26-year-old Jean Peterson, also from Quebec City who faced firearms charges while the three other individuals were released with a promise to appear in court.
May 15th Raids
As previously mentioned, five individuals were arrested the following day in the morning of the 15th of May. Again, three men and two women were arrested. This second raid targeted arms trafficking throughout the region, with the EILTA (a task force dedicated to arms trafficking) being the instigators of the Thursday morning raids.
Aside from 28-year-old Levis resident, Philippe Rochette, who appeared in court for arms trafficking, drug trafficking, trafficking stolen vehicles and breaching a release agreement; the four other individuals, aged between 25 and 34-years-old, were released with a promise to appear. A total of three residences and six vehicles had been searched. A car-detailing located Guillaume-Couture Boulevard which allegedly had ties with the Blood Family Mafia also succumbed to a search warrant. Letting the public know how BFM also has it’s hands in legitimate businesses.
In this latter event, 80 police officers took part in the several search warrants served. Authorities managed to put their hand on 400 grams of cocaine, 1900 tablets of methamphetamine, a taser and a pair of brass knuckles. They also seized 1800$ in cash money. These were the results of an investigation launched in February.
March 20th Raids
The police knocking on the doors of people associated with the Blood Family Mafia has almost become a monthly occurrence in the province’s eastern regions. The SQ’s GTI was once again knocking on the door of Blood Family Mafia associates in Quebec City’s south shore. Four people were arrested in total. Mario Poulin, 60, and Melanie Raymond, 48, appeared in court the same day of the arrest.
Both were charged with drug-trafficking and possession with intent to distribute. Raymond also had two supplementary charges for being in possession of a prohibited weapon; a butterfly knife as well as a pair of brass knuckles. Two other individuals, a 41-year-old woman and a 29-year-man had also been arrested in the frame of the same operation.
Investigators from the SPVL later met the batch of people arrested. The SPVL had started this investigation in early March, targeting a drug-trafficking ring in the Levis-Lauzon sector of the south shore.
March 27th Raids
Another investigation led by EILTA, Quebec’s anti-arms task force was set about on the 27th of March. This was a joint task force involving the SPVQ, SPVL and the SQ (Quebec Provincial Police). It targeted a supposed firearms cache of the Blood Family Mafia. Two vehicles and a Saint-Basile residence had been searched. The residence targeted was located on Rang Saint-Joseph.
Authorities seized 4 firearms, about a dozen expired license plates, two cellphones and ammunition. Among the firearms seized were a sawed-off .12 gauge, a .308 Winchester rifle and two assault rifles. Brian Lavoie and Alexia-Eugenie Saillant, both 25, were arrested and appeared in court the very same day.
