LPD Blue

Martin C. Barry

The Laval Police Dept. says it is temporarily closing its citizen service counters to compensate for tight summer scheduling.

The counters, one in the east and the other in western Laval, serve as places where local residents can ask police questions directly and fill out incident reports, among other things.

The LPD says the busy summer season, which coincides with the vacation period for many officers, means staff is stretched thinner than usual. The closed service counters are located on Adrien St. and Arthur-Sauvé Blvd.

As an alternative, residents are now being advised to visit the police station on Saint-Martin Boulevard, which is open 24/7 and the LPD’s general headquarters on Chomedey Blvd.

Tax evasion results in $850,000 penalty and jail time

The Canada Revenue Agency announced last week that a Laval resident was sentenced at the Palais de Justice in Montreal to imprisonment for five years and a fine of $850,817 for attempted tax evasion.

Mohamad Jaber pleaded guilty in May to charges involving allegations that he engaged in money laundering on behalf of individuals who were themselves involved in illegal activities.

According to the CRA, Jaber was issuing fake sales invoices for the purpose of disguising the true purpose of the transactions. The CRA also says that he was using false names to set up three shell businesses to open bank accounts under their names.

The federal tax agency says that in addition to the above-stated penalties, personal property worth an estimated $4.6 million was also seized from Jaber, as it was seen as having come from the proceeds of crime.

Garda cash transfer officers targeted by gunfire

Laval Police reported last week that an armed thief tried to steal a bag full of money from Garda armored truck agents in front of a Caisse Populaire Desjardins in Laval.

It happened shortly after midnight, when two Garda agents were dropping off money at an ATM in the Chomedey district on Samson Blvd. near Autoroute 13. When the guards left the truck with the bag of money, a suspect was waiting and shot at them.

The two Garda guards fired back and the suspect fled the scene. No one was injured. No arrests had been made up to our deadline, although an investigation is ongoing.

LPD assesses next moves, as ‘magic mushrooms’ dealer ponders opening

The Laval Police are reportedly working with the Montreal Police on actions they could be taking in response to an Ontario-based “magic mushroom” retailer’s stated intention to open a store somewhere in the Montreal region over the coming weeks.

Although the distribution and sale of magic mushrooms, which contain the active hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin, is illegal under the Canadian federal government’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, a dispensary firm from Ontario called FunGuyz has already opened nine locations and is now setting its sites on Montreal.

In a statement issued to CTV Montreal earlier this month, the Montreal Police said it will be working with the Laval Police “to evaluate the various possible intervention scenarios, on our respective territories and in concert.

“Responsible officers will be identified in each of our police departments,” the statement continued.

“We will also be checking with our police partners across the country to see what kind of response has been given to this type of commercial activity.

“We are also evaluating the possibility of meeting with the managers of the establishments in advance to validate their intentions and explain our orientations.”

17 suspects arraigned on narcotics charges at Laval Courthouse

A total of 17 suspects from Laval, the North Shore and the Lower Laurentians were arrested and arraigned at the Palais de Justice in Laval last week after being charged by police with participating in a narcotics trafficking network involving large quantities of cocaine and unregulated cannabis.

Eighty police officers, including some from the Laval Police Dept., took part in the operation, which was overseen by the Sûreté du Québec, along with police from Deux-Montagnes, Saint-Eustache, Blainville, Saint-Jérôme and Mirabel.

Police believe the network was affiliated with the Hells Angels motorcycle club, which has well-known organized crime links.

The operation was the culmination of efforts which started with police raids conducted in November 2021 and March 2022 when investigators seized 100 kilos of cocaine while executing a search warrant in a building on de Fontenay St. in Laval’s Pont-Viau sector.

Also seized during the searches were five handguns, two silencers, three ammunition clips, more than 90 lbs. of cannabis, two cocaine processing presses, nearly $200,000 in cash, seven vehicles, eight Rolex watches worth an estimated $150,000, and eight computer servers for mining cryptocurrency.

The list of those arrested includes: Luis David Roy-De Rodriguez, 30, who is notable for being the son of the Quebec actor and vocalist Gildor Roy.

Others on the list: Martin Dazé, 36, Cédrick Cazzetta-Parent, 30, Timothy Taylor, 44, Patrick Brière, 46, Marc-André Joannette-Casimir, 40, Danny Legault, 50, Damien Néron-Lacroix, 32, Marc-André Hamel, 36, Henriette Aoun Abou-Arrage, 70, Roula Barak, 50, Samira Oarab, 41, Ghizlane Ouarab, 38, Abdelilah Et-Taib, 26, Konstantinos Stathopoulos, 31, Christian Rufiange, 39, and Sandra Abou-Arrage, 42.

Still being sought by the police were Steve Abou-Arrage, 51, and Andy Abou-Arrage, 30, who (according to La Presse) are connected to Lebanese organized crime figures in the Montreal region.

LPD seeks victims of man accused of pimping

The Laval Police say they arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with charges that he was acting as a pimp for prostitution.

In the meantime, LPD investigators believe he may have multiple victims who wish to press additional charges.

Georgio Saliba was arrested earlier this week. He has already been arraigned at the Palais de Justice de Laval on Saint-Martin Blvd., although he has since been released on bail with several conditions to follow.

According to a backgrounder provided by the LPD, one of Saliba’s alleged victims began a relationship with him.

Over the ensuing months, he allegedly proposed that she work for him, asking her to provide sexual services to customers.

The LPD maintains that the victim complied for a few months, although Saliba is alleged to have assaulted her when she tried to end their relationship.

The LPD is asking anyone with more information to contact them via their confidential information line at 450 662-INFO (4636).

LPD joins in raids for contraband ‘shisha’ tobacco

Officers from the Laval Police Dept. took part in an interprovincial operation last week in which more than 13,300 kilos of contraband tobacco smoked in Middle Eastern “shisha” pipes, with an estimated value of nearly $5.8 million, was seized in Quebec and Ontario.

The operation, led by the Sûreté du Québec, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Montreal Police, with assistance from the Canada Border Services Agency, initially targeted a contraband tobacco dealer doing business in Laval and Montreal, but ended up leading to an importer based in Toronto, according to information issued by the police.

In all, eight search warrants were executed on June 14 at warehouses in cities that included Laval and Saint-Eustache in Quebec, as well as Burlington, Mississauga and Scarborough in Ontario.

As well, two residences were searched and several vehicles were seized during the raids.

The suspects were identified by the police as a Quebec man, age 45, and two Ontarians who are 44 and 43 years old respectively, although their names were not immediately released.