In the wee-hours of Thursday morning (26/09/2024), several different police corps around the province of Quebec had assisted in ‘Projet Radioactif’ (Project Radioactive); a police operation launched by the SPVQ (Quebec City Police Service). Multiple officers had a call of duty, smack-dab in the middle of the night, as most police operations function this way in an attempt to surprise the accused and catch them off-guard or possibly red-handed.
This was the second biggest police operation that had been launched in 2024 since ‘Projet SCANDALEUX’ at the beginning of the year in February. SCANDALEUX was meant to cripple Blood Family Mafia members and its associates, including independent dealers on the eastern end of the province, Project Radioactive has very little to do with the ongoing BFM drug war. Although, there’s no denying that some of the individuals arrested throughout Project Radioactive have had ties to the Hells Angels MC.
Project Radioactive
This whole operation dates back to March of last year, when police had put in effect, and executed two search warrants in the east of the province. One in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier and the other in Fossambault-sur-le-Lac. The first search warrant targeted a man by the name of Vincent Baril, who is 40-years-old, while the latter targeted Francois Plamondon, a 38-year-old man.
The search warrant of these two residents had yielded an impressive amount of drugs and crime paraphernalia. 16 kilograms of cocaine, 800 grams of cannabis, 500 grams of hash and around 350 prescription pills. Supplementary to the drugs seized, authorities had also managed to put their hands on 8 hunting rifles, as well as 6 cellphones. No arrests had been made subsequent to these two seizures, but we’d be willing to bet that Baril and Plamondon started to count their days after the search warrants were executed.
The operation which played out Thursday included search warrants in 13 different towns across the province. The towns and municipalities are as listed below…
- Pointe-Claire
- Longueuil
- Boucherville
- Saint-Hubert
- Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
- Mercier
- Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu
- Saint-Marc-de-Richelieu
- Repentigny
- Saint-Come
- Sainte-Emilie-de-l’Energie
- Fossambault-sur-le-Lac
- Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier
All-in-all, authorities yielded 4 million methamphetamine tablets, 34 kilograms of methamphetamine, 18 kilograms of cocaine, 27 rifles and 23 pistols. Police were able to uncover the origin of these firearms, coming from the United States and meant to be shipped to the eastern towns of the ‘Capitale Nationale’ region of Quebec which included cities such as Quebec City and Levis.
A Well-Known Figure
One of the suspects arrested was 41-year-old Alexandre ‘l’Espa’ Ovalle charged with drug-trafficking. Ovalle is known to have had ties with the HAMC in the past and was even the target of an attempted murder in the past. The incident happened in the town of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, in the agglomeration of Longueuil in the Monteregie region of the province on June 6th of 2023.
The shooting happened towards 11:30pm, which is when police received numerous calls in regards to shots that had been fired on Rue Deslieres. Police arrived on the scene only to find bullet holes, shell casing and blood, but no victim. They noticed a shootout had occurred, deeming the surrounding area a crime scene. Two hours later, police had stumbled upon a man in his 40’s shot in both the upper and lower body. He was rushed to the hospital. His upper body injury was a shot to the head, the bullet had DEEPLY grazed the side of his head in the proximity of his ear.
In a loyal to the soil criminal fashion, Ovalle denied his ‘supposed’ implication in the shooting letting authorities know that they would not be gaining a single piece of information in relation to the shooting from him. Information leaked a few weeks after the event let the public know that Ovalle was in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville to settle a dispute and negotiate between two rival gangs. Ovalle had a reputation to negotiate successfully all the while intimidating criminal individuals at the same time. June 6th was only a hiccup which had led to him getting shot.
Ovalle was also arrested in the summer of 2011, through the works of a police operation named ‘Carcan’ targeting drug-traffickers on the south shore of Montreal. Ovalle was sentenced to 30 months for his part in a drug-trafficking ring. Once he was released, he was still victim to media and their public displays, but this time, the criminal was not Ovalle, but rather his girlfriend at the time.
Isabelle Lagace was arrested in 2016 in Australia while on a luxurious cruise ship with her friend Melina Roberge. Australian police had managed to find 30 kilograms of cocaine in the suitcases of these two ‘tourists’. Both were sentenced to serve time in an Australian prison and released a couple years later. Ovalle had his phones tapped during this time, but authorities had failed to draw a relation between him and his girlfriend’s drug arrest. Ovalle continued to maintain a long-distance relationship while Lagace was locked up.
Before his Project Radioactive arrest, Ovalle had started a podcast on social media platforms in September of 2023 with their first episode airing on February 7th of 2024. The podcast was suitably named ‘L’Avocat Du Diable’ or ‘The Devil’s Advocate’. Ovalle doesn’t play down his past experiences with the law, or other criminals in the game, but rather explains his experiences well and in detail.
To sum up our article, we will leave you with a list of ten of the suspects arrested and include their charges…
- Francois Plamondon, 38
Possession of cannabis with intent to distribute & storage or transport of illegal firearms.
- Vincent Baril, 40
Possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, store or transport of illegal firearms.
- Samantha Sarika Singh, 39, Pointe-Claire
Manufacturing of illegal firearms & firearm possession with intent to distribute.
- Jason Benoit-Ialenti, 32, Boucherville
Possess & traffic of methamphetamine.
- Maxime Lajoie-Noreau, 35, Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu
Possession and traffic of methamphetamine & possession of a firearm without a license.
- Yann-Michael Hervet, 53, Saint-Marc-de-Richelieu
Manufacturing & possession of prohibited firearms with intent to traffic & possession of firearms without a license.
- Frederick Vaillancourt, 52, Sainte-Emile-de-l’Energie
Manufacturing & possession of prohibited firearms with intent to traffic, transport and sales of firearms & possession of firearms without a license.
- Marie-Eve Labonte, 43, Saint-Hubert
Possession & traffic of cocaine.
- Alexandre Ovalle, 41, Carignan
Possession & traffic of cocaine.
- Maude L’Ecuyer, 28, Carignan
Possession & traffic of cocaine.
The dozen suspects in question have already appeared in court last Thursday and Monday. The Ministry of Public opposes the release of the individuals arrested although some of these individuals accused have sifted through the cracks and have been released with the promise to uphold certain conditions.
