Laval was one of several cities across Quebec where police officers conducted a series of sweeping raids last week, during which large quantities of methamphetamines trafficked by organized crime were seized in a record haul said to be worth more than $32.5 million.
In all, 28 warrants were executed in Laval, the Laurentians, the Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec and in Mauricie. Major amounts of illegal drugs were seized in Saint-Léonard, Boucherville, Chambly, Val-David, Yamachiche, Lanoraie, Saint-Anne-des-Plaines, Saint-Hubert, Sainte-Thérèse and Belœil.
Eight suspects were arrested and the drugs seized included:
· 6.5 million tablets of amphetamines;
· 21 firearms;
· 481 kg methamphetamine powder;
· 11 kg of pure meth;
· 5,000 tablets of MDMA (ecstasy);
· Several hundred tablets of Cialis and Xanax;
· 13 presses for making tablets;
· 1,002 cutters for shaping tablets;
· 250,000 bags for wrapping;
· 10 cell phones and one computer;
· Nearly $300,000 in cash.
According to the police, around a million tablets of illicit drugs were withdrawn from circulation as a result of the raids. The investigation had been underway since September 2021. Among other things, it revealed that around $5 million per week was being earned by the suspects from sale of the drugs. The clients for methamphetamines are typically teenagers and young adults.
LPD pass suspicious death in home invasion over to SQ
Investigators with the Laval Police Dept. opened a file following the discovery of the lifeless body of a man in his early 20s inside the Sainte-Rose home of a well-known UFC ring fighter on May 24 following what is believed to have been an attempted home invasion.
LPD officers received a 911 call at 1:55 a.m. from a couple who had fled the home and took refuge at a family member’s nearby home. The two people, a man and a woman, told police they had just been robbed at their home on Place du Cormoran in the Champfleury sector.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the alleged home invasion suspect’s body. It was later revealed that it bore signs of having been stabbed multiple times.
The Journal de Montréal identified one of the people in the house during the incident as Eduardo «Icho» Larenas, a UFC fighter, while the other was identified as his spouse, Gladys Rosana Lopez.
According to the French-language tabloid, the 250-pound, 6’3”, 42-year-old Larenas, who is said to have contacts with organized crime, called the police to report that a home invasion had taken place. The file has been handed over to the Sûreté du Québec because of the alleged organized crime connection.
Crown seeks six-year sentence for woman who molested boy
A crown prosecutor told a judge in a Laval courtroom last week that the courts need to send out a clear message that sexual assault is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a man or a woman.
As such, the prosecution is seeking a six-year jail sentence for Josianne Lévesque, a 43-year-old former grade-school teacher, who was previously found guilty of sexually abusing an eight-year-old boy who had been one of her students.
Over a period of 17 months, while tutoring the child, she took advantage of him sexually. It was only after he complained to his parents that the abuse stopped. Before then, Lévesque had told the boy not to reveal what had been going on because it would get her into a lot of trouble.
While the prosecution was demanding the higher sentence, Lévesque’s lawyer was seeking 25 months, claiming that she had shown signs of remorse. The judge is scheduled to render a decision in October.
Laval man among those charged in alleged truck training fraud
A Laval resident and a man from neighbouring Saint-Eustache are among a group of six people facing fraud charges linked to a two-year investigation in Ontario into allegations related to commercial motor vehicle driver training.
In March 2019, the Ontario Provincial Police was advised by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) of fraudulent passenger and licensing activities, which led to a criminal investigation.
The investigation revealed three major components of a serious fraudulent scheme, said to significantly impact the safety of Canadian highways.
- Use of an interpreter to fraudulently complete required licensing knowledge tests;
- Non-Ontario residents applying for an Ontario driver’s licence;
- And circumvention of Ontario’s Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) standard.
The investigators identified more than 200 incidents in which students had committed a variety of fraudulent activities to obtain a commercial vehicle licence.
It is alleged that the suspects allowed their foreign clients to obtain a class 5 (passenger vehicle) and possibly a class 1 (heavy goods vehicle) driver’s license using falsified documents.
Laval Police set off on long-distance bike tour
From May 30 to June 4, 14 officers with the Laval Police Dept. are bicycling more than 1,100 kilometres in six days in order to raise funds for Opération Enfant Soleil.
The cycling officers set off from Laval city hall at 8 am last Monday and are scheduled to get back to LPD headquarters around 4 pm on Saturday June 4.
Their route during the five days will take them through 80 municipalities between Laval and Quebec City, while travelling through Montreal, the Montérégie region, the Eastern Townships, the Beauce, Mauricie and Lanaudière.
“Over the coming week, our police officers will be facing a major sports challenge,” said LPD chief Pierre Brochet. “For every pedal stroke, each kilometre travelled, they hold out the hope of a healthy future for all the children and parents in need.”
Since 1997 when the event was first held, the LPD’s cycling tour has raised more than $1.7 million. As they pass through the Beauce and the provincial capital, the LPD officers will be accompanied by colleagues from the Quebec City Police Dept.
