The owners of the Nuits de Beyrouth restaurant, which has been the target of four arson attacks in recent months, decided to close on Friday.
• Also read: A restaurant in Laval that was the victim of blackmail says it was abandoned by its insurers
• Also read: A restaurant in Laval has been hit by a suspicious fire
Walking through the restaurant in the Chomedey district of Laval, TVA Nouvelles found that the owners and staff were packing.
The owners believe they were targeted because they didn’t want to pay criminals the famous “pizzo,” an illegal tax in exchange for some form of protection.
According to our information, the kidnappers demanded thousands of dollars.
The company’s owners never wanted to pay the tax, citing their assets.
Pierre El Dib throws a dart at the owner of the commercial building. He said he was taking the situation lightly.
“The damage we have suffered is not due to the street gangs. He really is the owner of the place here. He’s the one who caused us all this damage! From the first impact in October 2022, it had to be taken seriously […] He doesn’t want to invest in a car, a person […] He took it lightly,” he thinks.
Here are the testimonials of two other local restaurateurs:
“It’s a big disappointment for the whole community today. It’s a disappointment for about thirty employees to be made redundant […] We came here very young, we came here to flee civil war, we came here to flee injustice! We are in an injustice that is even greater. We’re being let down by our insurers,” Hoda Dib says, disappointed.
“We are let down by the system. We tried to seek justice but we couldn’t find it […] It’s blackmail, pure and simple. We were asked for money for protection. “We refused and are now the victims of several Molotov cocktail attempts,” regrets Kevin Alsabek.
In an interview with Michel Jean, retired inspector André Durocher says the situation surrounding vandalism of businesses in the greater Montreal area is worrying.
“Currently, all police departments are struggling to find staff, so it will be very difficult [d’enquêter] […] I believe that there needs to be investigations that lead to substantial arrests,” he says.
It should be noted that the Service de Police de Laval, together with the SQ and the SPVM, created the Wick project, the aim of which is to carry out investigations into cases of extortion.
Arson attacks in Montreal
- As of January 1, 2023: 220
- In May: 16
- 34 arrests
- 3 this week
Source: SPVM