A specialized team of police will focus on firearm trafficking in Montreal.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante joined security officials on Thursday to unveil the city’s newest police force, ELTA.
The team will be staffed by about 20 Montreal police (SPVM) officers.
The city says gun violence and trafficking is on the rise.
In firearm trafficking investigations from November 2019 to Dec. 5, 2020, police say they’ve responded to 153 calls related to firearms, made 103 arrests, and confiscated 44 guns.
Officials say more guns have been turning up since the start of the pandemic.
“We’ve seen the number of accidents with guns have increased in the last year and especially the last few months,” said Plante.
“It’s important to use all the tools we have to investigate in a more thorough, deeper way.
In the weeks before the announcement, Montreal police carried out a major raid on an alleged drug and arms trafficking ring resulting in several arrests.
ELTA’s main goal, according to officials, is to identify and arrest the leaders of firearm trafficking operations in the city.
“Firearm violence is unacceptable,” said SPVM Director Sylvain Caron. “The priority of the SPVM is to combat this sort of violence.”
Caron told reporters he estimated the initial costs of the new team will be in the ballpark of $3 million, which will come out of the existing police budget.
