At Least twenty five people were swept up by police in and around Montreal as part of operation argot a drug bust targeting members of the Montreal mafia.

According to reports, many people arrested were associates of Raynald Desjardins alleged Montreal mobster and former right-hand man of Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto. The operation targeted coxxxne and marxxxana distribution rings that were allegedly headed by Desjardins and operated out of Italian cafes in St. Leonard. Montreal police Sgt. Jean-Bruno Latour said that as of now the arrest were mainly Italian mobsters but there could be other gangs and organizations possibly involved as things unfold.

“Raynald Desjardins (center)”

Desjardins allegedly was also head of a breakaway faction of the Montreal mafia that attempted to take control from Rizzuto crime family boss Vito Rizzuto in an ongoing bloody mob war. He was charged with ordering the 2011 murder of one time Bonanno crime family boss Salvatore “Sal the Ironworker” Montagna and is in jail awaiting trial. Many mob insiders believe Montagna was killed after his alleged alliance with the Desjardins faction fell apart. The Rizzuto clan is part of the Sicilian Mafia and it is believed by some that the Desjardins faction was backed by the Calabrian Mafia also known as the Ndrangheta in an attempt to take control over the lucrative Montreal drug trade.

Local Montreal street gangs are believed to have been enlisted to carry out mob hits on behalf of rival Montreal mafia factions as the bloody Montreal mafia war continues. Four men believed to be associated with the Bo-Gars street gang were arrested last week for the murder of Desjardins associate Gaetan Gosselin. Many believe that these attacks on people close to Desjardins and the rival faction are retaliation from the Rizzuto crime family as Vito Rizzuto regains control of the Montreal underworld.