Mont-Joli is a town located nearly 350 kilometers northeast of Quebec City, to the south of the Saint-Lawrence riverway, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of the province. Last week 5 suspects were arrested in relation to an altercation which took place leading to a 46-year-old man dying from his injuries. This man’s name was Andre Bourgoin, an avid dog-lover and drug dealer who has had close ties in the past to the 1% powerhouse, the HAMC. The circumstances leading up to his death may shock you, as the media has released a twist in this case recently as more information is unveiled.
The altercation had taken place near 11:45am, on the 7th of September (7/09/2024), on a Saturday morning. It is unclear what had led up to the altercation, which had taken place on Rue Aubin in Mont-Joli, but we are aware that after the brawl, he was driven to the hospital where he was later declared deceased. The SQ refuses to tell the media how the event actually played out due to the fact that the five suspects are still awaiting future court dates.
The five suspects implicated in the murder are aged 19 to 27 and all hail from Montreal, even including Jarryd-Xavier Taylor, an ex-football player who played for the Concordia Stingers and the University of Montreal’s Carabins. The four other suspects include; William Keita, Zachary Dryden, Brian Lewis-Philipp and Patrick Dion-Francis.
Although we do not know the circumstances which led to Bourgoin’s death, all five suspects are facing charges for concealing weapons with malicious intent. All five of the suspects appeared in court last Thursday (12/09/2024). After their appearance in court last week, the five were accused of second-degree murder.
In 2019, Bourgoin was one of the 32 people arrested in a police operation which targeted the HAMC as well as the Red Devils and Dark Soul’s MC’s named ‘Projet Oursin’. This operation was a joint operation set up by the ENRCO (Escouade National de Repression du Crime Organise) and the ERM (Escouade Regionale Mixte Rive-Nord). Its aim was to dismantle an interprovincial drug trafficking ring, putting Eastern Quebec and New Brunswick traffickers behind bars.
In January of 2019, authorities set out 48 search warrants that had yielded them 6 kilograms of cocaine, 232,000 tablets of methamphetamine, 640,000$ in cash money, 23 firearms, 3 vehicles and 8 MC patched biker vests. The drug-trafficking ring was headed by two New Brunswick HAMC prospects, at the time, and actual bloodline brothers, Eric and Yannick Blanchette.
Andre Bourgoin was a ‘manager’ of the ring along with his brother, Francis Bourgoin in Mont-Joli. Francis Bourgoin had passed away in May of 2020 while Andre Bourgoin was convicted in 2021. He was handed an 18-month sentence after having served 36-months in provisional detention. He was convicted of drug trafficking and being in possession of proceeds obtained from crime over 5000$.
The twist in this story comes nearly 10 days after the homicide. It has been said that Bourgoin was looking to switch sides as this narco-war progressed, possibly in hopes of cashing in more money and evading the 10% HAMC tax. If this serves to be true, this would have meant that whatever was meant to happen to Bourgoin was commissioned by an MC aligned with the Hells Angels, or even the HAMC itself. This information is yet to be proven as factual. It would serve as a memorable lesson to independent dealers siding with BFM.
The series of events that took place on September 7th, 2024 seems to have been more of an attempt to intimidate and possibly ‘jump’ Andre Bourgoin rather than an assassination attempt. Maybe the intent of the five young men was to kidnap him, as the Profit Boys had tried to do with another victim in Alma a few weeks back. Why in the world would you get a pack of five young adults involved in a homicide? Loose lips sink ships, and if this homicide was intentional, these five youngins have to be the dullest pack of criminals in all of Quebec.
Since this recent information has been leaked to the public, authorities are now contemplating other suspects in Patrick Laurendeau’s attempted murder last weekend. They are opening up their horizons and including the fact that maybe, just maybe, Laurendeau was tired of paying the 10% tax and possibly switched sides. Two suspects are still being searched for in the light of this recent shooting.
There is no lack of suspense in this drug war which has expanded from the eastern part of Quebec to include the central-western part of the province. All-in-all, Andre Bourgoin’s death will mark the 3rd homicide in relation to this drug war taking part in the province.
The first being Michel ‘Doune’ Guerin, a close associate to the HAMC and ex-president of Les Mercenaires MC, shot outside of his home in Charlesbourg. The second being Patrick Martin, a 29-year-old BFM affiliate that passed away in a wild series of events. He had held hostage HAMC associates in the Saint-Malachie siege. Martin had fallen asleep during the hostage taking when one of the victims was able to free himself and stab Martin to death after being tortured and filmed by Martin.