By Robert Frank
www.thesuburban.com
United States Attorney for Eastern New York Loretta E. Lynch thanked Laval Police Aug. 20, after the U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn convicted two drug trafficking kingpins.
“Jimmy Cournoyer was Laval resident,” Laval Police Sgt. Frédéric Jean told The Suburban, after the court handed Cournoyer a 27-year sentence for smuggling more than 100,000 kg of marijuana to the United States. “His [American] collaborator John Venizelos got 11 years.”
Court documents linked the pair to the Rizzuto and Bonanno crime families, the Hells Angels and Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.
“Laval Police had been investigating Cournoyer’s group since 2009, and in 2010, we learned that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was also investigating,” Sgt. Jean said in an interview. “DEA was missing some pieces [of the puzzle]. We had those pieces.”
“For four years, we were very involved in the criminal intelligence part of the DEA investigation, sharing information and communicating on an almost-daily basis,” he added. “It was the most important cross-border narcotics case that we have been involved in.”
Officers save woman’s life
Two police officers revived a 49-year-old Chomedey woman, whose heart had stopped after losing consciousness, around 6:30 p.m., Aug. 15.
“Officers arrived on the scene in Fabreville less than five minutes later,” reported Sgt. Jean.
The police car was equipped with an automated external defibrillator, thanks to a Laval Police brass decision in March to equip all patrol vehicles with the life-saving devices.
“After they shocked her, Urgences santé transported her to hospital, where she was in stable condition,” Sgt. Jean said. “We’re pleased that we were able to intervene to save a life.”
The lack of ambulance service in Laval was an important issue during this year’s provincial election campaign and remains a sore point as labour negotiations continue at Urgences santé.
Teen kidnapped, robbed
“Two men accosted a 19-year-old man at 12:15, Aug. 21, as he was walking along Ampère in Laval des Rapides,” said Sgt. Jean. As he passed an old beige or gold minivan parked along the curb, the door slid open and the suspects roughed him up.”
“When witness yelled that she would call police, the men pulled the victim into the minivan and fled,” he continued. “Inside the car they roughed him up, stole his wallet and backpack and dumped him on a residential street in Chomedey near Highway 15.”
Police are looking for three black men aged 20-25. They are asking members of the public who might have seen the vehicle to call their confidential tip line [450] 662-INFO (662-4636).
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