The Laval Police completed a major recently involving a large network for the cultivation and sale of cannabis that was operating in Laval, Montreal, as well as on the North Shore and the South Shore.
Projet Drago, as the initiative was code-named, led to the identification of four suspects, followed by four raids with arrests in Laval, Montreal, Saint-Adèle in the Laurentians and Saint-Adèle-de-Newton in the Montérégie.
The investigation led to the discovery by police that although production of cannabis had been authorized to some of the suspects by Health Canada which had issued permits, a substantial amount of the product was being distributed outside the agency’s rules and therefore illegally.
The police estimate the value of the cannabis seized at more than $2.5 million. The seized materials included:
- 2,085 plants of cannabis;
- 169.3 kgs of cannabis bud;
- 9.26 kgs of bulk cannabis.
Also seized
- $34,530 in Canadian currency;
- 864 cuttings;
- Two vehicles valued at $60,000;
- 2 air conditioners.
Chhuong Ngo, age 44, Con Ngo, age 52, Van Linh Pho, age 48, as well as Steve St-Germain, age 52 ans, face charges of producing cannabis illegally. They were arraigned at the Palais de justice de Laval and were freed on bail with conditions to follow until their next court appearance.
Adèle Sorella acquitted of charge she murdered daughters
A Laval woman was acquitted on Monday in the 2009 deaths of her young daughters after a third trial on murder charges.
Adèle Sorella was convicted of murder in 2013 and 2019, but both of those decisions were overturned on appeal.
The girls were found dead in the family’s Laval home, but their bodies showed no signs of violence and a cause of death was never determined.
Justice Myriam Lachance said in her written decision that she remained unconvinced that Sorella had seized an opportunity to kill her daughters, Sabrina and Amanda, when they were eight and nine years old respectively.
Sorella was married to known Mafia figure Giuseppe De Vito, who died poisoned in prison in 2013.
Laval Police seize first 3-D printed gun
There’s a first time for everything, and the Laval Police announced recently they had seized a 3D printed firearm for the first time.
As these types of weapon have already become quite common in the U.S., it’s believed it will be only a matter of time before they also turn up more often in Laval and other areas of the province.
According to the LPD, officers pulled over a vehicle in late November for a routine infraction of the Highway Safety Code. While the officers were checking ID and documents, one of the occupants of the vehicle falsely identified himself.
The two occupants were placed under arrest, and while searching the suspects, police seized a 3D-printed revolver from one of them. A small quantity of drugs and false identification were also seized.
According to the LPD, the possession of a 3D-printed firearm is an emerging phenomenon in Quebec as police battle gun-related urban violence.
The 30-year-old alleged to be carrying the weapon was arraigned at the Palais de Justice de Laval on a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon. He remained in custody at last word and was scheduled to make another court appearance on Jan. 18.
Local police in raids over killings, including one in Laval
Laval was one of several communities across Quebec where police were recently conducting raids and seizures tied to a series of organized crime-related killings, including the deaths of three people who were mistakenly targeted.
The operation was connected with killings in Montreal and on the North Shore from the mid-1990s to more recently. Police said the raids — in Laval, Mirabel, Rosemère and Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot — were primarily in conjunction with the deaths of the three people mistakenly killed.
The victims were Lida Phon, 32, who was killed in a Laval home in August 2012; Domenico Facchini, 37, who was shot dead in a cafe in Montreal’s St-Léonard borough in December 2012; and Nicolas Lavoie-Cloutier, 18, killed in Terrebonne, Que., in June 2018.
Police said suspects targeted in the raids were linked to the Mafia, the Hells Angels and street gangs.
