The arrests, led by police officers from the mixed Rive-Nord regional squad, took place in Terrebonne, Prévost, in the northern crown of Montreal, and in Saint-Philippe and Delson, in Montérégie.
Éloïse Cossette, spokeswoman for Sûreté du Québec, said in an interview with ICI RDI that some of these individuals have been trading GHB since 2014. […] i.e. over a period of 8 years from 2014 to 2022.
More than 30 police officers from various police services were mobilized as part of this investigation, which began in March 2022.
Tens of millions of doses
A large quantity of drugs was seized, including several thousand liters of GBL, a substance used to manufacture GHB.
In a statement, police said they searched 77 liters of GHB and 1389 liters of GBL. Police also found “an outdoor facility containing five burners and five tanks used to manufacture GHB” and “several documents dating from 2014 to 2022 for the purchase of more than 36,000 liters of GBL,” along with $340,000 in cash and a banned firearm dated .25 caliber.
We also found that it was mass production that these people were doing, adds Ms. Cossette. We were able to determine that this network had the capacity to produce tens of thousands, perhaps as many as 43 million unit doses of GHB.
“We can imagine that [le réseau] extended well beyond the borders of the Montreal region, even into the province of Quebec. »
— A quote from Éloïse Cossette, spokeswoman for the Sûreté du Québec
Those arrested are charged with gangsterism, drug trafficking and manufacturing, among other things. Three of the men will appear at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse later on Wednesday. The three women were released after their arrest and could face charges at a later date, police said.
In the greater Montreal area, a large GHB trading network was dismantled. interview with dr Marie-Eve Morin, family doctor specializing in addiction and mental health.