The Hells Angels Had the Côte-Nord, Then the Blood Family Mafia Contested the Business Model: The Sûreté du Québec’s Organized Crime Chief for Eastern Quebec Puts 121 Arrests Behind One Regional Drug War (August 24, 2026)

A senior Sûreté du Québec officer has put three criminal organizations, one foreign arrest and a running enforcement tally on the record to explain why a remote stretch of the Quebec north shore has spent three years absorbing arsons, home invasions and gunfire. The reporting was published on Monday, August 24, 2026 by Le Soleil, under the byline of Victoria Baril, and carried the same day by Le Droit.

The officer is Ghislain Cosette, the Sûreté du Québec’s head of organized crime for eastern Quebec. What he describes is not a mystery about who is fighting. It is a succession, and he names every stage of it.

The Sequence, as the SQ Describes It

Cosette’s starting point is possession. The Hells Angels, he says, originally had control of the Côte-Nord. Readers who want the structural background on that organization can find it in our file on the Hells Angels in Canada.

What broke the arrangement was the arrival of a group he identifies by its initials and then spells out: the BFM, the Blood Family Mafia. In Cosette’s account the BFM contested the bikers’ business model, and the contest produced an escalation of violent events in the sector. Our standing file on that organization is here.

The consequence he lists is specific and it is the reason this file belongs on this beat: a rise in criminal fires, a rise in home invasions, and a rise in firearm discharges.

Then the third stage. Following the arrest of Dave Turmel in Italy, Cosette says, police observed a split within the BFM group. The North Savage Gang appeared afterward and tried to take the place left open in that region. Since the arrest of All Boivin, whom the SQ describes as the alleged leader of the North Savage Gang, officers have recorded a slight decrease in crime on the Côte-Nord.

Cosette does not treat that decrease as a conclusion. His own framing is that a vacuum invites an occupant: with a space left empty, police expect someone or some other group to take it.

The Enforcement Numbers

The Côte-Nord is named in the reporting as one of the three Quebec regions worst hit by the narcotics war, alongside the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and the south shore of the Québec City region.

The response has a structure and a date. In February 2024 a mixed squad was created to counter the rise in crime and the recruitment of what the reporting calls “soldiers” in Indigenous communities. It is staffed by investigators from the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Service de police de Uashat mak Mani-Utenam.

Cosette’s tally for that squad alone: 103 investigation files completed, more than 130 searches, and more than 121 arrests.

He also points to a geographic advantage that does not exist in a city. A single road reaches the Côte-Nord, which means the force can check and intercept individuals travelling in.

What the Numbers Look Like on the Ground

Two datasets are reproduced in the reporting. The first comes from the Sûreté du Québec annual report for the MRC des Sept-Rivières, covering the Sept-Îles sector. The second comes from Sécurité publique de Uashat mak Mani-Utenam.

Two incidents anchor the statistics. In May 2026, shots were fired in broad daylight in the parking lot of the IGA in Sept-Îles while families were shopping; a 28-year-old man was wounded by gunfire, and a 58-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting. Since the start of the summer of 2026, two assaults have occurred on rue Charles-Guay, a residential street in Baie-Comeau next to a high school.

Carl Jourdain, director of the Service de police de Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, describes the Sept-Îles sector as a plaque tournante — a hub — because of its position beside the river, several Indigenous communities, and the route north. It is, in his words, the last large town before the road runs east and north.

Where This File Stands

Verified. The publication date and time and the byline; that Ghislain Cosette holds the eastern Quebec organized crime portfolio for the Sûreté du Québec; every one of his attributed statements above, including the Hells Angels control claim, the BFM challenge, the arsons, home invasions and firearm discharges, the Turmel arrest in Italy and the BFM split, the emergence of the North Savage Gang, the Boivin arrest and the slight decrease, the single-road interception advantage, and the 103 files, 130-plus searches and 121-plus arrests; the February 2024 creation of the SQ-RCMP-SPUM mixed squad; the three regions named as worst hit; the May 2026 Sept-Îles IGA shooting with a 28-year-old wounded and a 58-year-old arrested; the two rue Charles-Guay assaults in Baie-Comeau since the start of summer; Carl Jourdain’s position and his hub characterisation; and both published data tables. Source opened and read in full, including the full immersive presentation where the figures sit.

Missing. The date of Dave Turmel’s arrest in Italy and what he was arrested for. The date and circumstances of All Boivin’s arrest and what he was charged with. The period the mixed squad’s 103 files, 130 searches and 121 arrests covers. How many of those arrests produced charges or convictions. The identity of the IGA shooting victim and the status of the 58-year-old arrested. Whether the two rue Charles-Guay assaults are linked to each other or to the drug conflict. Which Hells Angels charter the SQ has in mind.

A note on spelling. The published reporting renders the SQ officer’s surname as both Cosette and Cossette in different passages. This briefing uses Cosette, the form used at first reference and in the photo caption. The discrepancy is in the source.

Not claimed. That any of the three named organizations is responsible for any specific incident described here. The SQ describes a regional pattern and a succession; it does not attribute the IGA shooting or the Baie-Comeau assaults to any named group, and neither does this briefing.

Update trigger. The second instalment of the series. Any SQ release naming charges against All Boivin or an update on the Turmel proceedings in Italy. Any new mixed-squad enforcement tally. Any identified successor group on the Côte-Nord.