Police raid Quebec construction firm

Forty provincial police officers executed search warrants Wednesday at the Montreal and Quebec City offices of engineering consulting firm Roche Ltd.

The warrants are part of aninvestigation set up by theQuebec government to look into allegations of collusion and corruption in the construction industry

Police have yet to make anyarrests as a result of the investigation, dubbed Opration Marteau (French forhammer).

It was unclear how long itwould take police to complete their search for evidence at the Roche offices, saida police spokesperson Wednesday afternoon.

A company representative made a brief statement in French to reporters in Quebec City.

"We don't know what they are targeting with the search warrants," said Jacques Thivierge.

"We have no doubts about the integrity of our people, and we will collaborate fully with the investigation underway."

Police said the activities they are investigating at Roche could be related to a previous investigation in Boisbriand, north of Montreal.

In December 2009, officers with Opration Marteau carried out warrants at Boisbriand City Hall, the public works office and thelocal offices of Construction Infrabec Inc.

The results of those raids have not been made public.

An earlier report by the Radio-Canada program Enqute alleged that Infrabec's owner colluded with Boisbriand's mayor at the time, Sylvie Saint-Jean, to discourage her potential rivals from running in the city's November 2009 municipal election