LONGUEUIL, QUE. -- Five alleged drug traffickers were arrested Tuesday by police during searches of private residences in Montreal and Brossard in the Montérégie region.

The police operations were conducted as part of an investigation launched last April by the Service de police de l'agglomération de Longueuil (SPAL).

On Wednesday, officers from the SPAL's intervention team, assisted by agents from the Montreal police tactical intervention squad, conducted searches that resulted in the seizure of cocaine, crack cocaine, cellphones, various objects such as computers, money and knives, as well as two vehicles, a firearm with an altered serial number and ammunition magazines.

Police arrested Mouhamadou Lamine Ndiaye, 32, Timothy Gagnon Fortin, Miguel Lessard Jorge and Jérôme Hébert, all of whom are 22, and Ibrahima Sory Sakho, 34. 

Four of them are being held in custody for their court appearance on various charges, while one has been released on bail.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 21, 2021.