The Côte-Nord region is under the watchful eye of the Sûreté du Québec police intelligence agency as tensions in the world of organized crime there are high.
“We will not create hiding places, there is a lot of harm caused by the criminalized groups on the north coast,” said Sûreté du Québec spokesman Hugues Beaulieu. What we see is men who are already criminalized attacking other people who are already criminalized.”
A few weeks ago, shots were fired at buildings in Chute-aux-Outardes in two separate events. At the end of October, an arrest took place in broad daylight in Sept-Îles, in the Parc Ferland district. Several patrol cars surrounded a car in which two people were traveling, and for several minutes police officers pointed their weapons at them as witnesses looked on, some of them stunned.
Criminal groups, some of whose members come from outside the region, carry out intimidation attempts. The Sûreté du Québec, which has noted this increase in tensions in recent months, points out that there have been no innocent victims in connection with these conflicts.
“Apart from the two events in Chute-aux-Outardes, there would have been no other exchanges of fire on the north coast. “It must be said that the police were able to make arrests or arrests in virtually all incidents involving violence that were reported to us,” said Hugue Beaulieu.
Teams specializing in organized crime from the Sûreté du Québec have traveled to the North Coast in recent weeks. The investigators managed to renew their photo album and make the police presence felt in the region.
“Intelligence teams showed up at certain licensed facilities. We also visited certain locations of criminal groups. Yes, in fact we can rely on more specialized services than patrol to clarify what is currently happening.”
The Sûreté du Québec is unable to provide information on the number of arrests and acts of violence that have occurred on the North Coast in recent months involving people linked to the drug trade.
Spokesman Hugues Beaulieu points out that several significant police operations witnessed by citizens are not related to tensions between criminal groups.