We’ve covered the shooting of ’24 Gang’ member Frederick ‘Boolin’ Michel, when two shooters had unloaded their clips on his BMW in a parking lot in Laval on February 5th, 2024. We’ve also covered the death of promising Montreal rapper Christopher Shawn ‘Dirty S’ Jean Vilsaint when he was caught in a hail of bullets in Ahuntsic. What if these two murders were related with another two murders that had occurred recently.
In our articles, we’re always hesitant to claim whether 2 factions are at war with each other. We don’t want fake publicity. But how many murders have to occur to journalistically claim there is actually a strife going on? As we’re getting a little more context of the murders that had occurred within the past year. I believe it’s safe to say that certain street gangs in Montreal and it’s surrounding regions are targeting each other. Perhaps these events are part of a bigger context, but so far, the strife seems to have started after a simple mall brawl.
First off, we’ll set the playground and it’s players. On one side of things, there’s the ’24 Gang’ from the Saint-Francois sector of Laval which are in alliance with the Flame Head Boys (FHB) from the Laval-des-Rapides borough of Laval. It’s important to note that these two street gangs are also in alliance with STL and multiple other cliques. STL is a gang that was formed in the recent years that stem from the Saint-Leonard borough of Montreal. These 3 gangs claim ‘Blood’, or in other terms, the color ‘red’. STL hasn’t been involved in the ongoing strife taking place. On the other side we have the ’26’ Gang, Zone 43 and mostly cliques with allegiance to the ‘Crips’ or the color ‘blue’.
To those that aren’t familiar with Montreal and its surrounding areas. Montreal is an island, to the north, there is another island named Laval. The Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal neighbors the Laval-des-Rapides borough of Laval. To the opposing side of Ahuntsic lies the Villeray/St-Michel boroughs. ‘Dirty S’ was part of the VLY BOYZ (Villeray Boyz) and the ’26 Gang’. He took his final breaths in the Ahuntsic borough.
The reason we keep naming ‘Dirty S’ would have to do with his family tree. Dirty S is the son of gangster and notorious criminal; Steve Andre ‘Scarface’ Vilsaint, making him a prominent player on the state of the underground in Montreal. His father would often be posted up at certain bars across Montreal in the presence of important players in the underworld playground of Montreal including mafia figures. Dirty S was deemed as an individual that was higher-up on the echelon of a coalition of street gangs stemming from all over Montreal and Laval. Gathering gangs from Pierrefonds, Rosemont, Villeray, Saint-Michel, LaSalle, downtown Montreal and Laval.
Seen as the alleged ‘leader’ of this coalition of gangs hailing from all over Montreal, but most notably the east side of the island. Christopher Shawn ‘Dirty S’ Jean Vilsaint was well respected around local communities where he would monetarily contribute to different community organizations. Our first article about the death of Dirty S does not portray the generosity of the young rapper and gang member, and we say the latter with no negative connotation.
On April 7th of 2024, Christopher Shawn ‘Dirty S’ Jean Vilsaint was target to an attempted murder. We have no means of confirming whether or not that this shooting was related to the shooting which had led to his death in May. The shooting occurred at the intersection of 25th Avenue & Bellechase in the Rosemont borough of the island.
On that day, towards 7pm, after a discussion which had taken place in a previously stolen vehicle, a 21-year-old man which Jean Vilsaint had been discussing with, pulled out a 9mm pistol which he shot several times towards the direction ‘Dirty S’. After the dust had settled, one of the suspects had been shot, in which he managed to make his own way to a hospital for first aid. Three suspects had been arrested after the kerfuffle, one of the suspects named Abdoul Liban, who was a member of a Toronto street gang from Rexdale.
This story gets even more interesting, when we find out that Dirty S was the protégé of Jean Philippe Celestin’s right hand man, Nitchell ‘Crank’ Lapaix, who was murdered in 2021 by Sylvain ‘Haboub’ Kabbouchi. Kabbouchi is a member of ‘Cho Blocc Mafia’ which hails from the Chomedy borough of Laval. Dirty S had recently disassociated himself with Jean Philippe Celestin’s crew. This might be confusing to readers, but it’s most likely that these cliques and all the individuals named will come full circle.
27-year-old Nitchell ‘Crank’ Lapaix was at the Laval strip club ‘Crazy Moon’ on the 17th of August, 2021 when two suspects had gunned him down. Lapaix was mostly in charge of a prostitution ring on the south shore of Montreal but had prior troubles with the law. In October of 2021, he pleaded guilty to two charges of being in possession of a firearm. Lapaix was also involved in a drug-trafficking ring located in downtown Montreal.
Kabbouchi wasn’t alone during the night of ‘Crank’ Lapaix’s death, he was accompanied by 27-year-old (at the time) Tareck Youssef Baydoun. Kabbouchi was only 23 at the time and was considered an ‘extremely violent individual’ by local authorities. Kabbouchi has already lived through two attempted murders on his life. He passed in court for the Lapaix murder in December of 2022, while being incarcerated for a home invasion and kidnapping of a pregnant woman. Kabbouchi was also caught with 2 kilograms of carfentanyl in December of 2021 in Granby as well as unloading a firearm during a robbery which took place in Boisbriand a little before the Lapaix murder.
Five men have been accused last week of 2 murders which had occurred last summer. Three of which had shown up in court last Wednesday (24/07/2024). The two murders in question are the ones of 28-year-old Justice Owusu ‘Steady’ Tajudeen and Noel Garcia-Frias. The five accused are as listed below…
- Sylvain ‘Haboub’ Kabbouchi (Cho Blocc Mafia)
- Andrei Donet
- Bradley Phanord Barthelus (24 Gang)
- Romuald ‘Buck’ Surin (24 Gang)
- Felix Tremblay
Garcia-Frias, 32, was gunned down in Charlemange, in the region of Lanaudiere but authorities believed this was a case of mistaken identity since he was shot 2 months before Tajudeen. Both of the dead men drove the same type of Audi Q8. They believe Tajudeen was the initial suspect in which the assassins were set on targeting. Initially, four other individuals were accused in relation to these two murders before just a week before the five suspects named above were; Johnny ‘Jooz’ Odiesse, one of the leaders of the Flame Head Boys as well as Jack ‘Jacky’ Shehata, William Beauvais-Bazile and M’hammed ‘Momo Burberry’ Berberi (Arab Power).
Berberi once claimed allegiance to the ’26 Gang’ in the past before he decided to switch sides after a stint in prison. Berberi decided to approach yet another gang dubbed ‘Arab Power’ or AB after spending time in prison. Arab Power is in alliance with the ’24 Gang’ and the Flame Head Boys. He was once considered an associate of Dirty S and Owusu Tajudeen.
The five individuals arrested that we previously mentioned had racked up a number of serious charges. We’ve already gone through the criminal past of Sylvain ‘Haboub’ Kabbouchi, then there is Andrei Donet, 21, who was sentenced to life for the murder of Jannai Dopwell Bailey. Donet is also known to have ties to a street gang hailing from the NDG (Notre-Dame-de-Grace) borough of Montreal on the west of the island. Felix Tremblay, 22, has several court cases pending concerning being in possession of a firearm.
We’ve written about Romuald ‘Buck’ Surin recently in relation to the Dirty S shooting which he is considered to be the alleged shooter of Dirty S along with William Beauvais-Bazile. ‘Buck’ Surin is a member of Laval’s ’24 Gang’ which are in alliance with the Flame Head Boys. These two gangs, coming from the Saint-Francois and Laval-des-Rapides sectors are in a conflict with another gang named ‘DTP’, or the Downtown Project as well as the ’26 Gang’. Dirty S was involved in both the ’26 Gang’ as well as the Downtown Project.
Justice ‘Steady’ Owusu Tajudeen was shot to death on August 7th, 2023 at the age of 28-years-old. He was at a shisha bar close to the intersection of Ste-Catherines & Guy, when he was struck by a flurry of bullets towards 3:30am that morning. Tajudeen had been seen at L’Arabesque shisha bar in the hours following his assassination.
This assassination most likely stems from a fight which had taken place at Simons Boutique located in Carrefour Laval the 21st of July 2023. The fight which had taken place at the Carrefour Laval shopping center consisted of Tajudeen and Romuald ‘Buck’ Surin. Keep in mind Tajudeen is a close associate to ‘Dirty S’ Jean Vilsaint and a member of the ’26 Gang’ while ‘Buck’ Surin is a member of the ’24 Gang’.
It would be a sad truth if these murders and conflict between these gangs stemmed from a simple brawl which took place within a shopping center. That’s a sad fact about some street gangs these days, willing to pull pistols over a meaningless scurry.
Along with the 9 suspects arrested in relation to these murders, there is a tenth 27-year-old female suspect who was arrested but not named. Whether this conflict continues to gain momentum or not, whether there is an underlying issue which the local media has not touched base on. I hope this conflict doesn’t evolve into more violence than it already has brought.
