Sûreté du Québec Says Gino Gasse, 60, of Ragueneau Played a Role in Organising a May 31 Baie-Comeau Home Invasion It Says Was Commissioned by Members of “le crime organisé BMHL” and Left Three People Assaulted Through an Error as to Person and Address (October 2, 2026)

The Sûreté du Québec says its Division des enquêtes sur les crimes majeurs arrested Gino Gasse, 60, of Ragueneau on October 1, 2026 — “hier,” the day before its communiqué — on an arrest warrant connected to an event at Baie-Comeau on May 31, and that he appeared at the palais de justice de Baie-Comeau the day the communiqué was issued and remained detained. The force alleges that hooded individuals broke into a Baie-Comeau residence on May 31 and that three people were then assaulted, through what it calls an error as to the person and as to the address. It alleges Gasse played a role in organising the crime, and says the event was commissioned by members of what it calls le crime organisé BMHL and is connected to what it calls le conflit des redevances. The force names three charges and introduces them with the word notamment — among others — so the published charge list is, by its own wording, incomplete. Gasse is presumed innocent, and none of the allegations has been tested in court.

What the Force Published

The communiqué is dated October 2, 2026. It says the arrest was made the day before, and that Gasse “faisait l’objet d’un mandat d’arrestation en lien avec un événement survenu à Baie-Comeau le 31 mai dernier” — was the subject of an arrest warrant in connection with an event that occurred at Baie-Comeau on May 31. It says he appeared “aujourd’hui,” the day of the communiqué, at the palais de justice de Baie-Comeau “sous plusieurs chefs d’accusation” — on several counts — that he remained detained following the appearance, and that he will return to court at a later date for his bail hearing. No date for that return is published.

On the allegation itself, the force writes that the acts currently alleged against him “seraient survenus le 31 mai dernier, alors que des individus cagoulés se seraient introduits par effraction dans une résidence de Baie-Comeau” — are said to have occurred on May 31, when hooded individuals allegedly broke into a residence in Baie-Comeau. “Trois personnes auraient alors été victimes de voies de fait dans le cadre d’une erreur sur la personne et sur l’adresse” — three people were allegedly assaulted, in the context of an error as to the person and as to the address. The force adds: “L’enquête a démontré que Gino Gasse aurait joué un rôle dans l’organisation de ce crime et que l’événement a été commandité par des membres du crime organisé BMHL et est relié au conflit des redevances” — the investigation showed that Gino Gasse allegedly played a role in organising this crime, and that the event was commissioned by members of le crime organisé BMHL and is linked to the royalties conflict.

Those last two terms are the force’s own and are reproduced here as it wrote them. The communiqué does not say what BMHL stands for, does not call it a gang, a club, a family, a syndicate or a cartel, and does not name any of its members. In 2024 reporting on the same “conflit des redevances,” Le Soleil glossed the initials, inside a quotation, as “bandes de motards hors-la-loi”; that expansion is Le Soleil’s, not the Sûreté du Québec’s in this communiqué. The communiqué does not explain what the royalties conflict is, who is on either side of it, or how this break-in is said to connect to it.

The Charge List Is Partial by the Force’s Own Wording

The three charges the communiqué names, in its own French, are introduction par effraction, utilisation d’une arme à feu lors de la perpétration d’un acte criminel and voies de fait — break and enter, use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence, and assault. They are introduced by notamment, a word that signals a partial list. The force does not say how many counts Gasse faces in total, does not itemise the remainder, and does not say whether any count alleges a criminal organisation offence — which matters, because the same communiqué attributes the commissioning of the break-in to members of an organisation it names.

One of the three named charges concerns the use of a firearm during the commission of an indictable offence. No firearm is described anywhere in the communiqué. It does not say whether a weapon was recovered, what type it was, whether it was discharged, or whether anybody was struck by it. Nor does the communiqué say whether Gasse is alleged to have been present at the residence: the allegation it publishes against him is that he played a role in organising the crime.

What Was Reported in June

The communiqué mentions no other arrest, but local outlets reported earlier arrests on the same break-in. Le Haute-Côte-Nord reported on June 1 that the home invasion took place on the evening of May 31 on avenue Charles-Guay in Baie-Comeau, that two suspects were involved and that cayenne pepper was used, and that three people were hurt, among them a 75-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman who were taken to hospital; the Sûreté du Québec told the paper their lives were not believed to be in danger. Le Manic reported on June 2 that four people were arrested on June 1 at Les Escoumins by the Sûreté du Québec and Essipit police in connection with the May 31 home invasion, and that three of the four are minors. None of the four is named, and Gangland Files does not name minors. The communiqué on Gasse does not refer to those arrests.

Gino Gasse is charged and has not been tried. Every allegation against him above is the Sûreté du Québec’s, none has been tested in court, and he is presumed innocent. The charges are reproduced in the force’s own French because the communiqué is the only source for them and its list is explicitly partial. Baie-Comeau and Ragueneau sit outside the primary footprint of this beat, and the qualifier that puts this file on it is named by the force itself: the Sûreté du Québec says the break-in was commissioned by members of an organisation it identifies as le crime organisé BMHL, and links the event to le conflit des redevances. No gang, outlaw motorcycle club, crime family, syndicate or cartel label is applied here, because the force applied none; BMHL appears in the words the force used, and the only expansion of the initials cited is Le Soleil’s, attributed to it. No minor is named. No publication ban is mentioned in the communiqué.