The Blood Family Mafia, often abbreviated to BFM, is a Canadian street gang active in Quebec.
Origins
editThe gang was founded in 2006 and is mostly active in the St. Lawrence river valley with a strong focus in Quebec City area, the Côte-Nord area and the Chaudière-Appalaches.[1] The gang was founded in the northern end of Montreal by a Haitian immigrant Valdano Toussaint who was ordered deported back to Haiti in 2008.[2] The style of the BLM is closely modelled after the Bloods gang of Los Angeles.[2] The membership of the gang was initially mostly Haitian-Canadian, but the group has expanded to take in French-Canadians in the last decade or so.
Conflict with the Hells Angels
editThe BFM traditionally paid a 10% "tax" to the Hells Angels, but in 2023 the group came into conflict with the Hells Angels after it ceased paying the "tax".[3] Criminologist Maria Mourani stated in a 2024 interview: "They never liked working for the Hells Angels".[3] The current leader of the BFM is said by the police to be David "Pic" Turmel.[3] Turmel is a 27-year-old man, living in self-imposed exile in Lisbon.[4] The journalist Félix Séguin said of him: "Dave Turmel, 27, is a young man who, even as a teenager, was described as ultra violent. In recent years, he decided to attack the Hells Angels of the Quebec chapter head-on. He and his gang, the Blood Family Mafia, refuse to pay taxes that the Hells charge throughout the province, to authorize independent groups to sell drugs on their territory. Very rare thing, in the case of Quebec, the Hells do not retaliate...They are even negotiating a truce."[5]
The BFM has modelled its tactics after the maras of Central America, and routinely engages in torture, which has led the gang to be considered one of the most violent in Quebec.[3] Mourani said of the gang's use of torture: "It’s not something that is common in Quebec’s street gangs. Is this a new way of doing business? We’ll see."[3] The gang is alleged to have released videos on the internet showing them torturing Hells Angels.[6] In February 2024, members of the BFM were arrested by the Sûreté du Québec in connection with the kidnapping, torture and murder of a man in Saint-Malachie.[7] The Sûreté du Québec stated that the victim was not associated with the Hells Angels.[7] The man was subjected to what the Quebec media called "a night of horror" with his body being burned and his ears cut off.[8] The victim was reported to be a drug dealer who decided to cease working for the BFM and was invited to attend a fare-well party.[8] The victim was beaten several times and subjected to waterboarding three times before his feet were burned.[8]
The attacks of the BFM on the Quebec City chapter of the Hells Angels are said to have badly damaged the image of the Hells Angels in the Canadian underworld along with the contrast between the youthful leaders of the BFM vs. the elderly leaders of the Hells Angels.[9] The journalist Pascal Robdidas reported that the BFM is leading a "rebellion" by various street level drug dealers who have grown tired of paying the exorbitant "taxes" to the Hells Angels in exchange for the privilege of being allowed to sell drugs.[9] The Hells Angels are reported to have formed "baseball teams" to go out and beat up various drug dealers in the regions of Quebec to stop them from defecting over to the BFM.[9]
Police crackdown
editRoobens Denis, the deputy leader of the BFM was arrested on 1 March in Portugal following an extradition request from Canada.[10] On 30 June 2024, another BFM leader, Guillaume St-Louis Bernier, was arrested in Kelowna by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police following an extradition request from Quebec to British Columbia.[11]
References
edit- ^ Thibault, Eric (2024-03-07). "Guerre des stupéfiants: le caïd Dave "Pic" Turmel s'attaque aussi au marché de la Côte-Nord". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
- ^ a b Touzin, Carloine (22 October 2008). "Sursis pour un chef de gang". Le Presse. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Laframboise, Kalina (26 February 2024). "Torture, drugs and kidnapping: How a turf war in Quebec's organized crime world came to blows". Global News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Lamontange, Kathryne; Séguin, Félix; Thibault, Eric (17 February 2024). "Qui est Dave "Pic" Turmel, le caïd qui fait trembler les Hells Angels?". Le Journal de Quebec. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Séguin, Félix (20 February 2024). "Conflit Hells-Blood Family Mafia: "Un modèle calqué sur les cartels mexicains"". 985.am. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Quebec provincial police make 22nd arrest in eastern Quebec drug war crackdown". The Canadian Press. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b Dussault, Lila (19 February 2024). "Un mort et plusieurs blessés dans une possible histoire d'enlèvement". La Presse. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Clouthier, Elisa (4 March 2024). "Oreilles coupées, pieds brûlés, torture par simulation de noyade: une victime du gang de "Pic" Turmel a vécu une longue nuit d'horreur". Le Journal de Quebec. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ a b c Robidas, Pascal (29 April 2024). "Les Hells Angels veulent faire une démonstration de force avec leur " First Run "". Radio-Canada. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Watts, Rachel (1 March 2024). "Right-hand man of Quebec gang leader arrested in Portugal after being wanted for months". CBC. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Lofaro, Joe (30 June 2024). "Alleged accomplice of Quebec gang leader Dave 'Pic' Turmel arrested in B.C." CTV News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.