Police conduct 10 raids of alleged west Quebec marijuana ring

Police in west Quebec say they have broken up a major marijuana network in the region, one they allege hid grow-ops inside the basements of newly built residential garages.

A joint squad of provincial and regional police raided 10 residences on Thursday morning and searched other locations primarily in Gatineau, Montreal, L'Ange-Gardien, Lochaber Ouest, Val-des-Bois, and Notre-Dame-du-Laus.

Police arrested 21 people, including two men they allege were the ringleaders of the organization, which Sret du Qubec Capt. Benot Dub had common ties to but no direct link to the Hells Angels.

Dub said the yearlong investigation police learned the organization was building residential garages about nine in total in the region and adding basements with trap doors to house marijuana production facilities.

"You couldn't smell the production and you couldn't see the production. You had to know it was there," he said.

In an average year Dub said the operation was producing about 2,500 pounds of marijuana and making about $3.9 million in profit from the production.

During the raids police seized:

• More than $1.1 million in cash.
• 700 cannabis plants.
• 220 pounds of cannabis.
• Two kilos of hashish.
• 23 firearms.

The investigation was a joint operation of Gatineaupolice, theSretduQubec, theMRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais withassistance fromRevenuQuebec andCanada's financial intelligence unit,the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).