Loquacious Project: Alkhalil was boss of imports, says undercover civilian agent

Rabih Alkhalil was responsible for cocaine imports within an organization of which he was a leading head.

This is what a civil infiltration agent (ACI) recruited by the Sûreté du Québec declared Thursday at the trial of Alkhalil, accused of gangsterism, conspiracy to import cocaine, cocaine trafficking and money trafficking.

Rabih Alkhalil, 32, was arrested in 2013, in the wake of an investigation called Loquace by which the SQ dismantled a consortium of six individuals who allegedly tried to monopolize the monopoly of the distribution of cocaine in Canada, according to the police theory. A total of 90 people, almost all of whom were tried, were arrested in the operation.

This ACI, whose name we must keep silent, was the confidant of Frédéric Lavoie, one of the members of the consortium, assassinated in Medellín, Colombia, in 2014.

He said he was convicted following an importation in 2008, then found himself in debt to organized crime and that's why he started giving information to the police .

100 kg in the bathroom

After completing his sentence, in 2011 he began dating Lavoie, as the two men had cocaine-buying clients in Quebec and Montreal.

At Lavoie's request, the ACI found him a place at 950 Notre-Dame Street in Montreal, to store the drugs. On May 24, 2012, he received 100 kilograms of cocaine from an individual nicknamed Steroids.

"I received a PGP (encrypted) message from Lavoie that 100 kilos were going to go into the safe place and that I couldn't leave the apartment, just to eat, that I had to come back, that I couldn't let no one inside, just me, until he told me what to do with it. About a week passed before we started distributing,” described the ACI, which then took advantage of this delay to take photos of the cocaine and send them to the police.

“The SQ officers were surprised to see all the amount of coke there was in the bathroom. I couldn't put that in the safe which was really too small. After sending these photos, it made my ACI process kick in and become more serious,” the witness said.

The weight keeper

ACI also said that the first and only time he saw Rabih Alkhalil was in a bar on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in the summer of 2012. He was accompanied by Lavoie, and the latter and Alkhalil began a conversation.

“I know the discussion was about me, because he (Lavoie) pointed me out and then introduced me (to Alkhalil). Rabih wanted to know who had the kilos of cocaine and who was Lavoie's right-hand man, because it was a big deal to be responsible for 100 kilos of cocaine, which is worth 5 million,” explained ACI.

“Did you know the role of Alkhalil? “asked him the prosecutor of the Prosecution, M ^e Tian Meng.

"He was an associate, a partner, like a leading head, he was the one who was on top," he replied.

"What was his job?" added the prosecutor.

“Lavoie tells me that it's Robbie who is upstairs, who is responsible for the imports,” continued the witness.

This passage from the ACI's testimony, however, made ^Alkhalil 's lawyer, Mr. Christian Gauthier, jump, who objected, affirming that the ACI had never made such remarks in its past statements and that the Prosecution taken completely by surprise.

Judge Anne-Marie Jacques of the Court of Quebec told him that he could correct himself during the cross-examination.

ACI also clarified that Alkhalil's nicknames in the organization were Honda and Lambo (for Lamborghini). He explained cocaine sales and distribution ledger sheets displaying the word Honda at the end of numbers.

He also claimed that Alkhalil allegedly owned a luxury clothing and jewelry business on Sherbrooke Street in downtown Montreal, where Lavoie's ex-spouse worked, and where he (the ACI) made cash deposits, including an amount of $20,000 on August 17, 2012.

The witness also went through accounting books and indicated that certain large amounts were for Honda and sums of 1 million and 2 million for Lambo.

He also explained several cryptic messages, one of which referred to a meeting with "Scoppa and the partner of Cazzetta".

Concerns and police heat

CREA also recounted that Lavoie lost his PGP device while he was away, that he did not respond to his encrypted messages for a few days, that his wife and associates were worried and thought he "had passed himself off".

One of Lavoie's messages told him that kilos were coming soon, "and that he had to go with Honda to Colombia this week".

But at some point, the Lavoie group felt police heat, according to other posts. One of the suspects, nicknamed The Chair, said he was followed by several vehicles.

"For me Honda is going to get picked up soon," Lavoie wrote to ACI.

“The messages said they were hiding Honda from the police. Fred said he was shadowing the cops. I tell him to get back here before anything happens to him,” ACI explained, later adding that he was continuously on his encrypted comms device.

“I had my PGP in my hands, every day, 24 hours a day,” he described.

His testimony continues tomorrow.

To reach Daniel Renaud, dial (514) 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to drenaud@lapresse.ca or write to the postal address of La Presse.