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Six members of organized crime under the age of 30 were arrested yesterday following a major police operation in the Saguenay region, in connection with the drug war raging in different regions of Quebec.
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It was a citizen who called the Saguenay Police Service (SPS) early in the evening regarding a suspicious car prowling in the La Baie borough.
“The independent witness saw suspicious individuals going to a neighbor’s house and contacted us. When we arrived on site, the car was gone, but the witness gave a very precise description of it so we were able to trace it,” explains SPS spokesperson Hervé Berghella.
The patrol officers therefore followed the vehicle until it stopped near the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi. They intercepted the vehicle and immediately arrested the four people on board.
“It was a high-risk intervention,” continues the spokesperson. In the context that we have experienced in recent days, we are not taking chances. We start with the idea that these people are potentially armed.”
After handcuffing the suspects, police officers seized several loaded and working firearms and handguns.
Second operation in quick succession
New investigative elements then allowed members of the SPS to carry out a second operation, this time, in a hotel parking lot on Talbot Boulevard.
“On site, we arrested two other individuals linked to the criminal world who were also armed,” says Hervé Berghella.
Following these two events occurring in quick succession, the police force carried out “several” searches on its territory. Depending on what is seized, new charges could be added against the six people who are currently detained.
They will appear this afternoon at the Chicoutimi courthouse. The suspects will be charged, among other things, with illegal possession of firearms.
Context of violence
Remember that this was the third event involving a firearm to occur in recent weeks in Saguenay.
On April 9, a car was riddled with bullets on Boulevard de l’Université before being left abandoned in downtown Chicoutimi. Last Monday, a man in his 60s was shot at point-blank range in his apartment by someone who allegedly knocked on his door before discharging his weapon.
The director of the Saguenay Police Department, Mathieu Perron, appealed to the population to be on the lookout for unusual situations and to inform the police.
“This is exactly what allowed us to carry out the two operations on Thursday. We need people to continue to be our eyes and ears,” notes Hervé Berghella.
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