MONTREAL - After two years of investigating, hundreds of officers from the RCMP and Laval, Montreal, Terrebonne and provincial police forces combined in a massive drug raid that led to 20 arrests in 25 locations early Wednesday morning.
The suspects formed a younger, unaligned segment of the local Italian Mafia which has no traditional clan loyalty and works with street gangs and other elements of the criminal underworld, according to Montreal police.
Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere described the group as up-and-comers, with the average age of those arrested being around 30.
"We are talking about young people who are taking the place of other people that have been there," said Lafreniere, a senior Montreal police spokesman.
Organized crime has been in a state of flux in the last few years with a series of attacks against Mafia-linked figures and analysts have wondered whether anyone was in charge.
Lafreniere said the arrests demonstrate a sharp change in how organized crime is functioning in the city. In the past, police have been able to identify individuals as being part of a certain group — be it a particular street gang or organized crime clan.
Now, Lafreniere said, it's all about money and greed and affiliations change quickly.
"I'd say that for the past year, it hasn't been the same and we're not talking about distinct groups anymore," Lafreniere told reporters outside Montreal police headquarters on Wednesday.
"One group can easily change colours overnight and side with another group if there is money to be made."
The drug-trafficking network operated in Montreal and two communities on the city's North Shore. Roughly two dozen warrants were executed in east-end Montreal, Laval and Terrebonne.
The network is allegedly responsible for the distribution of cocaine, marijuana and synthetic drugs, mostly out of Italian cafes.
Some sales were also conducted out of private residences.
Lafreniere said officers have also seized 29 weapons and will analyze them to see if they are linked to any crimes.
Police began knocking on doors about 5 a.m. and they said the operation remained ongoing with further arrests possible.
Lafreniere said they don't expect to make any names public until Thursday when many are expected to appear in court.
One local organized crime observer said that the raids are likely a welcome development for recently-returned alleged Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto.
“Those guys were Vito’s opponents. So today Vito’s opponents are weaker than they were before,” said La Presse crime reporter David Santerre.
“They’re not necessarily only working with Italians," he noted. "They’ll make alliances to make the most money as possible, they’ll take every occasion to get stronger, they’ll make alliances with other kinds of gangs, and it’s a thing we haven’t seen much in the past.”
-With a file from The Canadian Press
