Gatineau police seize trailers, remove occupants of camp near Guertin arena

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Gatineau police made a total of 15 arrests on Thursday as they moved in to break up a controversial encampment near the Robert Guertin Centre in the Hull sector.

A police update in late afternoon said two individuals had been released without charge, two others had been released at the scene and would be charged by summons, while 11 remained detained pending Court of Quebec appearances.

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Charges, police added in the release, included possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, illegal drug possession, breach of conditions, uttering threats, assaulting an officer, obstructing police and illegal possession of firearms.

The investigation was continuing, police added, so additional arrests and charges could follow.

“This is a major operation and I would like to thank all the police officers, civilian employees, as well as the partners who took part in the operation for a very long time,” Stéphane Raymond, deputy director of police operations, said in the release. “Although tension was high, given the possible presence of firearms, everything went well and no one was injured. Once the police operation is completed, management of the site will be returned to the city.”

The operation began before 7 a.m., when Gatineau police staged a large deployment to serve five warrants in connection with alleged drug trafficking inside trailers on the site.

The deployment included more than 70 officers plus the Gatineau and Sûreté du Québec tactical intervention groups, investigators and intelligence agents of the Criminal Investigation Division, a crisis intervention unit of the city and the CISSS de l’Outaouais regional health agency, a canine unit and the Gatineau police forensic identification unit, as well as lawyers from the city and prosecutors from the provincial Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions.

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Following an order from the city, a formal notice was delivered to the residents saying occupants who refused to leave trailers “illegally” on city property would be arrested.

Police said the warning was delivered three times. Only one person voluntarily left the area at that point, after which police began to seize trailers.

During the operation, police said, officers seized more than a dozen firearms and other homemade weapons, two baseball bats, a machete and a crossbow, a pellet rifle with a telescopic sight and another rifle, three replica firearms, four scales, more than 1,000 methamphetamine pills, two cannabis gins, more than 10 grams of cannabis, two crack pipes and a vaporizer, two passports and various other identity documents, numerous crack cocaine rocks, prescription medication tablets and several other substances and tablets yet to be identified.

“We know that violent events that have occurred in recent weeks have not been reported to the police department, that victims are afraid to report situations that worry them or to ask for help, and that witnesses have fears about their safety,” said Chief Insp. Mathieu Guilbault of the criminal investigation division. “We understand that it is difficult for these people to trust the authorities. However, we would like to tell them that our employees are ready to listen to them, welcome them and support them in the complaint process if they wish to move forward. They will be taken seriously without judgment. We hope that the operations of recent weeks have proven to them that the police department will not tolerate any violent offences.”

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In addition, the police statement said “alternative accommodation options” were offered to occupants of eight stored trailers and various city departments were working with community partners to allow the individuals from those trailers to recover their personal property.

After Thursday’s operation, the site was to be secured by the public works department to prevent others from setting up with trailers, police added.

The nearby École secondaire de l’Île high school remained open on Thursday.

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