SQ, SPVM join forces to investigate organized crime

A rash of public incidents tied to organized crime has prompted the Montreal police and theSret du Qubecto create a joint team to investigate.

So far this year, police are investigating 17 homicides tied to organized crime in the province. Several were brazen daylight shootings in public places.

Last week, a man in his 40s was shot and killed in the parking lot of a gym in Brossardat around 11:30 a.m.

About a week before that, Andrea "Andrew"Scoppa was gunned down in another gym parking lot in Pierrefondsjust after 8 a.m.

In May, Scoppa's brother, Salvatore Scoppa, was shot and killed in a Laval hotel lobby.

The investigators will be tasked with investigating several facets of organized crime, including human trafficking and homicides.

The permanent squad will have offices in and around Montreal.Sret du Qubecofficers will work out of Montreal police stations and Montreal officers will be sent to SQ offices in Mascouche and Boucherville.

The squad is in addition to the province-wide task force targeting organized crime called theEscouade nationale de rpression contre le crime organis orENRCO.