Sixteen men were arrested on October 1 in Quebec in connection with the production, trafficking, distribution and sale of illicit cannabis in Montérégie.
The Sûreté du Québec’s Cannabis Smuggling Investigation Service conducted its investigation in collaboration with the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Police Department, the Richelieu-Saint-Laurent Intermunicipal Police Department and the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Department.
The arrests took place in Brossard, Carignan, Chambly, Napierville, Saint-Alexandre-d’Iberville, Saint-Constant and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
The arrests come from previous searches carried out by law enforcement, particularly in September 2023, on production sites operated by individuals police say are linked to organized crime.
These individuals were primarily producing cannabis using Health Canada registration certificates for personal or designated production for medical purposes, but police say their investigation found the sites were being used in violation of those medical allowances.
More than 200 police officers worked on this investigation while the arrests on the morning of October 1 used more than 30 police officers, including the Sûreté du Québec’s tactical intervention group.
Coordinated by the Ministry of Public Security, the ACCES Cannabis program (Actions Concertées pour Contrer les Économies Souterraines) is a government initiative set up in 2018 to combat cannabis smuggling at all stages of supply, from illegal production to neighbourhood smuggling, throughout Quebec. Its objective is to promote the integrity of Quebec’s tax system, reduce the accessibility of cannabis for young people and direct consumers to a legal and safe market.
Recently, Sûreté du Québec also said it had seized thousands of illegally-grown outdoor cannabis plants so far this year. Investigators from the ACCES Cannabis Unit of the Quebec City Police Department (SPVQ) recently arrested a 47-year-old man during a search of a business on rue Saint-Joseph for the illegal sale of cannabis and its derivatives.
