Canadian Authorities Target Hells Angels Quebec South Chapter as Price of Cocaine in Canada Doubles

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

The price of a kilo of cocaine in Montreal has practically doubled since the recent high profile arrests of Canadian drug trafficker Ryan Wedding and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A kilo of cocaine currently sells for $35,000 CAD for traffickers who supply the drug market in the Metropolis and elsewhere in Quebec, compared to $18,500 CAD just two months ago, according to sources interviewed by Le Journal de Montreal's investigative team.

In May 2024, the price of a kilo of cocaine in Canada had then fallen to a record low of $18,500 CAD. And that was reportedly the price still being sold in December 2025.

Earlier this month, approximately twenty locations across Quebec and New Brunswick were targeted for searches conducted by the National Organized Crime Enforcement Squad (ENRCO).

In the summer of 2000, the Hells Angels and the Rizzuto Clan, who controlled the drug market in Montreal, agreed to fix the price of a kilo of coke at $50,000 CAD. This price had barely fluctuated for two decades, until the last few years.

In 2022, Colombia, broke records cultivating 230,000 hectares of coca leaves and producing 1,738 tons of cocaine.

The large Quebec market, like elsewhere, quickly became overly saturated, especially with newer players directly sourcing the cocaine from Mexican or South American contacts instead of going through the traditional organized crime groups of the Hells Angels and Rizzutos.

In the past few months, the leaders of several of these newer gangs have also been arrested including the Blood Family Mafia (BFM) kingpin Dave "Pic" Turmel, currently detained in Italy. 

Much of the Rizzuto administration including Leonardo Rizzuto and Stefano Sollecito are still detained after being arrested during Projet Alliance. A leader of the Crips gang, who had a falling out with Hells Angels and Mafia members, Atna "Tupac" Ohna was arrested last year for his involvement with Ryan Wedding.

Police searching the home of support club member Dany Sprices Cadet on February 11, 2026.

Now, Canadian authorities have been targeting the Hells Angels once again, including serving a search warrant at the home of longtime Quebec biker Salvatore Cazzetta. The DEA is collaborating with the ENRCO's investigation into the Hells Angels' cannabis export and cocaine import network.

Imprisoned Canadian trafficker Jimmy Cournoyer.

Cannabis for Cocaine

The biker network would export its cannabis to Europe, where marijuana remains illegal in most countries, unlike in Canada and the United States. Those funds would be then used to purchase wholesale quantities of cocaine.

This was the same business model that Canadian trafficker Jimmy Cournoyer had exploited before being sentenced to 27 years in prison by the US in 2014.

The Hells Angels were well acquainted with this scheme since they were then partners of Cournoyer, as were the Rizzuto Clan, the Bonanno Family in New York and the Sinaloa Cartel then led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. At the time, the Hells Angels primary function was transporting the cannabis from British Columbia and then selling the cocaine to street level traffickers.

Sal Cazzetta during a 2024 police raid on the South chapter clubhouse.

Who is Sal Cazzetta?

Cazzetta is a former founding member of the Rock Machine; he had started that club in 1986 after declining to patch over with the rest of his SS Motorcycle Club to the Hells Angels in 1984. His fellow SS member, Maurice "Mom" Boucher, nicknamed the 'Canadian John Gotti' at one time; adopted the 81 ushering in a huge wave of red and white into Montreal.

The two clubs, due to their friendships, had very little conflict over the next decade. However, once Cazzetta went to prison in 1994 for his role in smuggling over 11 tons of cocaine into Canada; Boucher had become head of the Hells Angels Quebec and began taking over territory of his old friend's club. 

This led to the biker war claimed more than 165 lives in Quebec between 1994 and 2002. 

Sal joined the Hells Angels following his prison release in 2004 and became leader of the South chapter and had notably led the Hells Angels for several years following Operation SharQc in 2009 while he was free and nearly all members of the gang were imprisoned, including Boucher serving a life sentence.

Another Hells Angels member, Yannick Gauthier, was also targeted by the police operation. Gauthier, a member of the Quebec chapter, allegedly controls the drug market in the Baie-Comeau area on the North Shore.

There, the bikers have been in conflict with BFM, the gang led by kingpin Dave "Pic" Turmel, over the past two years.

 
Former Syndicate gang member Dany Sprinces Cadet was also targeted in the ENRCO police operation.

Cadet is a former member of the Syndicate gang, which was founded by Gregory Woolley to support the Hells Angels during the biker wars of the late 1990s. He was notably sentenced to prison after Operation Magot in 2015 for his role in a network that controlled the cocaine market in Montreal's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood.

This former right-hand man of the late gang leader Gregory Woolley is now a member of the Montreal Red Tails, a motorcycle club that supports the Hells Angels.

The operation also targeted Michel Rose, a former member of the now-defunct Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels. Rose, once known for his involvement in cocaine importation during the biker wars, had served a lengthy prison sentence following Operation Spring 2001.

Sources Journal de Montreal, Journal de Montreal

Categories: Canada, hells angels, rcmp, ryan james wedding