Exactly two months to the day after police seized more than a million speed pills and several firearms in a series of searches across the province, police on Tuesday arrested about 15 suspected drug dealers.
The major operation was carried out in the municipalities of Montreal, Gatineau, Trois-Rivières, Saguenay, Laval, Saint-Jérôme, Shawinigan, Longueuil, McMasterville, Terrebonne, Cleveland, Sainte-Cécile-de-Whitton and Lavaltrie.
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A total of 16 suspects – 14 men and 2 women – between the ages of 26 and 72 were handcuffed in the morning.
“These suspects were arrested for possession of narcotics, possession for the purpose of trafficking, smuggling, manufacturing, concealment, conspiracy, gangsterism and possession of weapons,” said Éloïse Cossette, spokeswoman for the Mauricie Regional Mixed Squad.
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Police suspect those arrested were part of a large-scale methamphetamine production and distribution network.
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The suspects were due to appear at various courthouses across the province throughout Tuesday.
The arrested suspects are:
Hau Lu, 34, from Laval;
Jonathan Slicer, 38 from Laval;
Geneviève Parenteau, 40 years old from Laval;
Dominic Labelle, 35 years old from St-Jérôme;
Jean-Pierre Moroni, 65, of McMasterville;
Pierre-Luc Lapointe, 42 years old from Brossard;
Tommy Roberge, 33, from Trois-Rivieres;
Guy Paradis, old from Trois-Rivières;
Jean Daudelin, 60 years old from Trois-Rivières;
Réal Paradis, 72 years old from Trois-Rivières;
Nancy Lefebvre, 55 years old from Trois-Rivières;
Marcel Arsenault, 59, of Cleveland;
André Nadeau, 48 years old from Ste-Cécile-de-Whittom;
Marc-Antoine Tremblay, 26 years old from Jonquière;
Alain Vallières, 42 years old from Gatineau;
Yannick Raymond, 33 years old from Lavaltrie.
The searches carried out as part of this investigation led to the seizure of:
• Over 1,000,000 methamphetamine pills;
• 80 kg of tableted methamphetamine;
• 8.6 kg of pure methamphetamine;
• 2 kg of cocaine;
• 1kg MDMA;
• 2,200 ecstasy tablets;
• Over US$163,000 in Canadian currency;
• Nine firearms, including 8 handguns and a machine gun
• Production equipment including 2 presses, 6 mixers, 178 punches, furnaces, mills;
• 2 residences;
• 10 vehicles.