Police raids throughout Greater Montreal after alleged gang member killed

Montreal police (SPVM) officers conducted several raids on Thursday in Laval, Brossard, and Montreal as part of an investigation into the murder of an alleged gang member.

Nearly 100 police officers from the SPVM, Laval police (SPL) and Longueuil police (SPAL) took part in the operation.

This comes after a 28-year-old man was killed, shot on Feb. 17 at 12:15 a.m. while exiting a restaurant on Bellechasse, near Saint-Denis, in Little Italy.

“The investigation began by the investigators of the major crime unit here at Montreal Police,” said SPVM spokesperson Manuel Couture. “And following the investigation, they had several leads and today, they performed at least six searches here in Montreal but also in Laval and Longueuil.”

According to the SPVM, the suspects fired at the victim from inside a vehicle before fleeing the scene.

The victim, Brandon Jean Célestin, was the brother of alleged gang leader, Jean-Philippe Célestin.

The Célestin brothers were reportedly linked to Gregory Woolley, a man who was killed in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montreal, in November 2023.

Woolley was said to have been affiliated with the Hells Angels, with ties to the Italian mafia.

“We’re talking about a crime committed by a firearm,” explained Couture. “So the level of security for the public and for our police officers were high. That’s the reason why the SWAT had to intervene this morning.”

Célestin’s death in February was the sixth homicide on the island of Montreal for 2024.

Anyone with information about the homicide can call 911, their neighbourhood police station, contact Info-Crime Montreal anonymously at 514-393-1133 or via the reporting form available at infocrimemontreal.ca.