The joint task force of the Sûreté du Québec and the Nunavik Police Service perform second phase of operation against bootlegging
Since June 2024, an investigative team from the Sûreté du Québec specialized in alcohol bootlegging and illegal cannabis sales were working with the Nunavik Integrated Investigation Team on trafficking activities. These investigators were inquiring on criminalized individuals operating a sales and distributions network of alcohol and hard drugs (crack cocaine). The network was using mules (Inuit individuals) to smuggle illegal substances by air from Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport to various Nunavik northern villages.
The second phase of this operation jointly conducted by the SQ and the Nunavik Integrated Investigation Team on September 26, 2024, in the Kuujjuaq area resulted in 3 searches in private homes and 1 in a vehicle. These searches led to the arrest of 3 individuals: 2 women of 31 and 35 years old, and a 41-year-old man. The suspects were interrogated and release with an appearance notice.
These searches allowed the seizure of:
- 15 grams of cocaine
- 2 cellular phones
- 2 electronic pads
- $360 in Canadian dollars
- Various equipment used for drug trafficking
- A Liberty Jeep vehicle