Montreal Mafia & Hells Angels Figures Arrested as Part of Large Takedown Linked to Cooperating Hitman

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
Translated from a La Presse Article

Three years, almost to the day, after former organized crime hitman Frédérick Silva turned his back on the Mafia and began cooperating with Canadian authorities, they have been making their first arrests early Thursday morning targeting the leaders of the Sicilian clan of the Montreal Mafia as well as Hells Angels and gang members.

Silva, who will receive a record sum of over $3 million dollars in exchange for his confessions and testimony, as we first revealed last winter, would allow them to solve some 60 murder plots over a period of more than two decades in Quebec organized crime.

"This is one of the hardest blows to organized crime," said Benoit Dubé, Deputy Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Sûreté du Québec, at a press conference Thursday morning announcing the operation dubbed Project Alliance.

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Montreal Mafia and Hells Angels Reach Peace Agreement After Years Long War in Canada

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
From a La Presse Article

Opposed in a bloody conflict not so long ago, the Sicilian clan of the Montreal Mafia and a group of Montreal Hells Angels led by Martin Robert have reportedly decided to make peace in recent months, in the face of the rise of emerging groups that threaten their hegemony.

"Currently, we see that there is indeed a potential truce between certain criminal groups, including the Hells Angels and the Italian mafia," says Francis Renaud, commander of the Organized Crime Division (Antigang) of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM).

In 2023, Montreal Hells Angels and the Rizzuto clan clashed over control of illegal sports betting, better known as "The Book," according to a police theory.

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Canada’s Most Wanted Fugitive, Blood Family Mafia Gang Leader Dave ‘Pik’ Turmel Arrested in Italy

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Canada's most wanted fugitive, Dave "Pik" Turmel, has been arrested in Italy, according to Italian police sources.

The 28-year-old, who had been on the run for over a year, is believed to be the leader of the Blood Family Mafia (BFM).

The notorious street gang is involved in brutal turf wars with the Hells Angels in Quebec during which victims have been tortured and have had their limbs amputated.

In a news release issued Friday in response to CBC News inquiries, Rome District Police announced they arrested the head of "a notorious criminal organization." Turmel was not named in the release, but in a call with CBC News, police confirmed the individual arrested was indeed Turmel.

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Fugitive Canadian Hells Angels Trafficker Gunned Down in Mexican Resort Town

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Just over a year since the high-profile public gym killing of Canadian Hells Angels linked trafficker Samy Tamouro by CJNG gunmen (followed a week later by the suicide death of his girlfriend in Mexico). Another Canadian fugitive, wanted since April 2022, was gunned down in Playa del Carmen.

The Canadian man shot to death in a Playa del Carmen parking lot has been identified as 39 year old Mathieu Bélanger from Quebec. According to local information, he was living in Playa del Carmen with his girlfriend using false Mexican documents. The pair have been tied to a Canadian Hells Angels group supplying drugs to the greater Montreal, Quebec area.

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Canadian Authorities Drop Charges in Large Cartel Connected Trafficking Network

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

In the midst of secret federal court proceedings and on the eve of a defence application to drop all charges, the Crown terminated the prosecution of five people accused of running a massive, cross-border drug trafficking operation involving Mexican cartels.

At the time charges were announced, police said it was believed the $55-million drug bust involving nearly 1 ton of methamphetamine and 6 kilograms of cocaine was the largest ever in Alberta.

With three sets of stays issued last week, last April and in 2023, 10 of the 15 people originally charged in the investigation dubbed Project Cobra are no longer before the courts.

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