Family relieved by arrests following overdose death of son, 15, in Montreal

For the first time in nine months, Christian Boivin and his family say they're encouraged that Montreal police arrested four people suspected of selling the kind of drugs that killed their 15-year-old son, Mathis Boivin, last year.

Police arrested them Tuesday in Montreal and in Rawdon for allegedly selling opioids and other drugs through social media.

Investigators suspect a link with the accidental overdose deaths of at least two teenagers last year.

"You know, during the process of the investigation, you feel like [the police] don't do a lot because they don't give you a lot of information. But it's normal. But what I heard yesterday, they put 11 police [officers] on that case since day one," the boy's father, Christian Boivin, said at the courthouse on Wednesday.

The accused are Laxshan Mylvaganam, 24; Simon Paquette-Gerardo, 34; Philippe Levesque-Plamondon, 37; and a 17-year-old whose identity cannot be published.

According to an investigation by La Presse, the accused allegedly sold their drugs through an Instagram channel called Kushtard, promising deliveries of opioids from noon to midnight. The drugs included highly potent opioids similar to what killed Boivin.

"Several kinds of drugs, some very hard drugs and other drugs that are not as serious. But overall, there were several different kinds of substances that were found," said Crown prosecutor Delphine Mauger.

The accused were not charged with causing the death of Boivin and others suspected of overdosing on the opioids.

"I'm disappointed," the boy's father said.

In the United States, a similar case involving the late actor Matthew Perry led to the arrest of five people for allegedly providing the drugs that killed him. But the prosecution in this case says investigators haven't reached that conclusion, though they say the investigation is continuing.

"This infraction has not been brought by the police to the Crown today," the Mauger said.

The parents of Boivin hope the arrests send a message that police are actively looking for those who sell drugs.