Police from Montreal, Nunavik to conduct joint patrols amid drug smuggling concerns

Officers from the Nunavik Police Service (NPS) will be patrolling the streets of Montreal with police officers from the Montreal police service (SPVM) over the next few weeks to encourage Inuit living in the south to report criminals who are smuggling drugs into Nunavik.

The SPVM and NPS held a press conference Monday in Montreal to explain that events in the north since last May have impacted the sense of security of Inuit living in Montreal.

Drug smuggling, organized by criminal groups from the south of the province, is at the root of "assaults" and "intimidation" that have taken place in Montreal, officials said. 

"Criminal groups from the south" are organizing and recruiting "Inuit members" living in Montreal "to bring drugs to Nunavik", said Pierre Larose, Chief of the NPS. 

The Nunavik Police Service (NPS) hold a joint press conference with the Montreal police (SPVM) in Montreal on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (CTV News)

Chief Larose explained that the police had succeeded in "destabilizing" the smuggling network through various operations. But in response to these operations, criminals began to "intimidate Inuit living in the south."

The police want to encourage victims to file complaints by meeting members of the community over the next two weeks.

"Two weeks is probably not enough," Larose admitted, "but it's a start."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 23, 2024.