Police on Sunday arrested Dave “Pic” Turmel’s two right-hand men, each of whom has a long criminal record, most notably because they took part in a home invasion together in 2015.
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39-year-old rapper James “Frékent” Célestin faces three charges, including aggravated assault by injuring, mutilating and disfiguring a victim he allegedly kidnapped on February 4th. He is also said to have committed a kidnapping during another event on February 20.
Rapper James “Frékent” Célestin. “Taken from the Facebook page “Frekent””
The Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) also handcuffed Jean-François Dion, 36, who is accused of possessing prohibited ammunition.
According to our investigations office, the two men are the right-hand men of Dave “Pic” Turmel, the leader involved in a violent conflict between himself and his drug traffickers against the Hells Angels in the Quebec region.
A still active rapper
Célestin and Dion have each been convicted several times in recent years, including for taking part in a house robbery with cocaine theft in Portneuf in the summer of 2015.
James Célestin is also known as the artist “Frékent” in the hip-hop scene in the state capital.
James Célestin was active in the state capital's hip-hop scene until autumn 2023. “Screenshot from the YouTube channel “Frekent Officiel””
Despite his run-ins with the law, he continued to produce music in recent years until he released his latest piece, Coupez-les, last fall.
The greatest irony is that this is, in a sense, the fate suffered by two Hells sympathizers in recent days, including from Turmel's henchmen, who notably had an ear, a finger and a toe cut off. However, it is unknown whether Célestin's words have any connection to these crimes.
In 2017, after his release from prison, he complained in an article in the media newspaper “Vice” that his transition office had recommended that he did not have the right to promote or distribute his music. “It is my freedom of expression that is under attack,” he explained.
In a podcast for ONZMTL media last fall, Célestin spoke of “interruptions, punishments and red cards” in his music career, presumably referring to the prison sentences he had to serve.
“It brought me a lot of truth and wisdom,” he said.
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