Shooting of Crime Boss in Quebec Starbucks Suggests Transition to Brazen Tactics, Note Criminologists
The brazen midday assassination of a influential Canadian crime boss inside a outlying Starbucks this week could indicate a developing, more volatile and reckless climate when it comes to underworld activities, observers say.
Leadership Void Developing
The detentions of purported top-level, established members of the city's organized crime in June has likely resulted in a vacuum – meaning emerging, less experienced gangs are working to establish themselves.
Shooting Incident Information
Law enforcement said at a press briefing that they were called to a Starbucks in the Quebec municipality at about 10.30am on Wednesday because of notifications of a shooting inside the coffee shop. An individual was killed and two others were hurt.
Targeted Person
While police have not verified the deceased's identity, various journalistic sources have said the man murdered was a convicted narcotics dealer, forty, also known by an street name. The person was the leader of a criminal group operating in the area.
Official Statements
The government representative said: "Everything indicates it being an act linked to underworld activities."
The area's top officer advised journalists that while he could not provide details on the ongoing probe, he is familiar with the man killed due to his "notoriety". "This person is linked to underworld activities," he noted.
Past Record
The targeted individual was first connected publicly to unlawful behavior in fifteen years ago when police in Montreal arrested him and six others in a narcotics distribution operation. He eventually pleading guilty on drug-related charges and was given to two years in prison.
According to documents, the individual was detained for a subsequent occasion in over a decade ago, again for illegal substance sales, and was afterwards sentenced to another half-decade in prison.
Professional Assessment
A university expert said that underworld activities in the area used to be characterised around exercising restraint over public violence and counted on a established leadership system.
An audacious public killing at a coffee shop chain indicates there may not be a controlling entity keeping order – as violence could affect business when it comes to illegal substance trade, commented the expert.
Control Loss
The analyst said it is conceivable that the organization which attacked the gang leader simply "showed disregard" about the visible exhibition of aggression in order to neutralize their quarry.
But the analyst thinks more probable is there has been a loss of structure and dominance within underworld activities in Montreal, connected with substantial detentions of the purported heads of the city's organized crime made in June.
Leadership Arrests
After a multi-year probe, law enforcement arrested an suspected criminal organization head and charged him with homicide and other associated crimes.
Current Situation
The current apprehensions were seen as the ultimate "nail in the coffin" for the established underworld hierarchy, commented the specialist.
It has created a void that newer street gangs are striving to take over. The latest incident is an sign of an unstable, fluid situation, he said.
"We have kind of this multitude of lesser, not extremely coordinated gangs ... that are competing for control," he remarked.
