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76-552: Over the years many members have been murdered or convicted of murder, most notably the 1984 assassination of one time West End Gang boss Frank "Dunie" Ryan . Subsequent revenge killings weeks later are believed to have been organized by replacement leader Allan "The Weasel" Ross . Under Ross' leadership, the West End Gang formed a partnership with the Cali Cartel , transporting large quantitites of cocaine into Canada from

152-457: A car bomb on McGurnaghan's Mercedes-Benz , killing him and seriously injuring a male passenger. According to police documents, it was believed that Ryan was worth up to $ 50 million. Ryan was said to have a briefcase full of $ 500,000 that he kept on his person. Ryan refused advice to retire as he stated: "If your tap was flowing $ 100 bills, would you turn it off? I've got three hundred guys working for me. What are they gonna do?" By 1982, Ryan

228-409: A fugitive for the first time, when he and other prisoners overpowered a jail guard and fled the van in which they were being transported to court. Blass was caught after an anonymous caller informed police that he was hiding in his wife's apartment. Five years later in 1974, he perpetrated his second escape. An unidentified female friend of his smuggled in some firearms during a visit, and Blass broke

304-519: A $ 100,000 debt to Ryan, partly because he used much of the cocaine he was supposed to be selling. When McGurnaghan cheated Ryan on a drug deal, Ryan contracted the Hells Angels hitman Yves "Apache" Trudeau to kill him. On 27 October 1981, McGurnaghan was driving his Mercedes-Benz along Melville Avenue in Westmount with two male passengers when Trudeau detonated a car bomb planted underneath

380-493: A 15-year span from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, the gang trafficked more than 40 tons of cocaine and 300 tons of hashish, with an estimated street value of $ 150 billion. In 1997, the federal government disbanded the National Ports Police as a cost-saving measure, which has greatly aided the work of the West End Gang. Patrick "Hughie" McGurnaghan, a cocaine dealer who sourced the drug from Frank Ryan, accrued

456-550: A Brinks armored car on 30 March 1976. The Montreal newspapers called the Brinks robbery of 30 March 1976-which was the largest robbery ever committed in Montreal-the "crime of the century". On 14 May 1976, one of the West End Gang members involved in the Brinks robbery, John Slawvey, was killed in a shoot-out with the police with detective André Savard killing Slawvey. Ryan was enraged by Slawvey's killing, which he regarded as

532-497: A Brinks armored car that again led to a shoot-out that led one of the Brinks guards, Claude Vienneau being shot and bleeding to death on the street as the robbers fled with some $ 278,000 in cash from the armored car. The most successful robbery committed by the West End Gang in Montreal was the theft of some $ 2,275,884 in cash together with golden Olympic coins worth $ 5,000 from a Brinks armored car took on 30 March 1976. In April 1976,

608-556: A broken home, leading him to boast in a 2008 interview: "I was a thief by the age of seven". Being placed "in care" in various foster homes, Morgan joined the West End Gang as a teenager and boasted: "Back then, I could open any lock or crack any safe and I did a lot of that. I had a knack for it". In the 1960s, West End Gang hitman Richard Blass was involved in minor fights with many Mafiosi , particularly those related to Frank Cotroni and brothers Joe and Vincenzo Di Maulo , all of whom received death threats from Blass. Several of

684-431: A chair at Lelièvre, who opened fire with his shotgun. As Ryan lay dying on the floor, someone finished him off by shooting him in the head with a .45 handgun. It is unclear who actually shot Ryan. One of Ryan's killers, Eddie Philips, told his brother, John Philips "I shot a dead man!", claiming he had shot Ryan after his death on the orders of April and Lelièvre. Ryan's killers fled so quickly that they did not take any of

760-419: A cold-blooded execution by the police as he insisted that Slawvey was unarmed and was in the process of surrendering when Savard shot him. Ryan placed a $ 50,000 contract on Savard's life, which was unprecedented act as never before had a gangster in Montreal placed a contract on the life of a policeman. Savard was forced to living in hiding for some time afterwards. Ultimately no hitman proved willing to take up

836-478: A farm in New Brunswick owned by Noel Winters with orders to stay there until the media furor caused by his killings in Montreal ceased. Going with McLaughlin to New Brunswick was his girlfriend, Maria Kraus-Hillebrand. On 23 April 1984, the decomposing bodies of McLaughlin and Kraus-Hillebrand were found buried in a shallow grave in a rural area outside of Saint John . Based upon the state of decomposition,

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912-586: A hitman for the notorious West End Gang . On 4 May 1968, the Cotroni family struck back by killing two of Blass's men, Gilles Bienvenue and Albert Ouimet, who were shot down by masked gunmen. On 7 May 1968, another Blass gang member, Roger Larue, was killed. By then, Blass had a sizable number of members in his own gang. Blass and his gang became more violent, committing a number of murders against Italians, some of whom had nothing to do with crime. The first such killing took place on 27 May, when Giuseppe Collizza

988-578: A largely middle-class anglophone community. The Lachine Canal and the Ville-Marie Expressway could've been a fortress wall". From the 1950s to the 1970s, Montreal was known as the "Bank Robbery capital of North America" as Montreal had more bank robberies than any other city in North America. The journalist D'Arcy O'Connor used as an example that in the six months between January-June 1969, Montreal had 51 bank robberies with only

1064-614: A much resentment about being charged for manslaughter, and he came to feel a grudge against the Quebec justice system, which he felt was biased against him. Starting in 1966, Ryan started to frequent the Country Palace on rue Sherbrooke where his biographer, Daniel Burke , wrote: "Hoods from all over the country, but especially the Irish Catholic ghettos, gathered at the Country Palace. Primarily strong arms and bank robbers,

1140-468: A quarter with the thieves being arrested, while the city of Los Angeles had 36 bank robberies in the period January-June 1969 with 60% of the thieves being arrested. The West End Gang were some of the most successful bank robbers in Montreal in this period. Montreal's status as the "Bank Robbery capital of North America" was largely due to the light sentences handed by Quebec courts, which normally gave only 5 years in prison for convicted thieves as compared to

1216-597: The Hells Angels , and Colombian cartels. The three Montreal organizations (West End Gang, Montreal Mafia, Hells Angels) make up the "Consortium" (similar to New York City's " Commission ") and, together, the three groups' leaders fix the price of drugs for the wholesale and retail markets. The majority of the drugs smuggled through Montreal are ultimately retailed in the United States, with the small remainder being distributed across Canada. Police estimate that over

1292-619: The Mafia , and Ryan's status was more as primus inter pares rather as a boss in the traditional sense of the term. Besides for robbing jewelry stores and loansharking, Ryan had the West End Gang start selling hashish, and then heroin and cocaine in the 1970s. Ryan assembled a crew that consisted of Patrick "Hughie" McGurnaghan, Paul April, Allan "The Weasel" Ross , the Matticks brothers, Peter White, and Kenny McPolland as his principle lieutenants. In 1974, Ryan hired as his bodyguard, John "Jake

1368-583: The Port of Montreal , which allowed them to smuggle in drugs on a scale that other gangs could not. Through his connections with the Irish Mob of Boston, Ryan started to import cocaine from Colombia and heroin from the " Golden Crescent " nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Ryan's point-man for the Port of Montreal was Gerald Matticks and his brothers. Ryan was content to be a wholesaler, who sold drugs to

1444-667: The " Golden Triangle " in Southeast Asian and in the " Golden Crescent " nations of Afghanistan, Turkey and Pakistan. According to informants, by 1986, cocaine shipments of between 20 and 40 kilograms were being delivered to Montreal every two weeks. By 1987, Ross' deals with the Cali Cartel included shipments of up to 200 kilograms being sent to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. On 15 May 1992, Allan Ross

1520-626: The 20 years in prison normally handed down by American courts, which allowed the gangs of Montreal to build up a cadre of experienced thieves. The largest bank robbery ever in Canadian history adjusted for inflation, namely the theft of some $ 20,000 in cash from the vault of the Brockville Trust & Saving Company in Brockville on 4 May 1958 was a joint operation of the West End Gang and the Cotroni family. Commander André Bouchard of

1596-766: The Essex County Bank and Trust on 24 August 1966, but were arrested by the Boston police shortly afterwards. After his parole in December 1972, Ryan joined what was then called the Irish Gang to help him continue his criminal enterprises, which now included loansharking as well as robberies. In 1973, he married Evelyn Lemieux from the Gaspé . Ryan had two children by his wife, Trica and Troy. Ryan had an easy-going personality, which made him popular, and he soon became

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1672-464: The Hells Angels. The police observed that after the service had ended that Ross spent much time talking to Viau, the president of the Angels Laval chapter, to which both Blass and Trudeau belonged to. Ryan was replaced as boss of the West End Gang by Ross whose first act as leader was to hire the hitman Yves Trudeau of the Hells Angels' Laval chapter to hunt down and kill those responsible for

1748-407: The Hells Angels. During the visit, Trudeau noticed that April did not have a functioning television, and he promised him that he would bring him one along with a videocassette recorder. On 25 November 1984, Trudeau and his occasional accomplice Michel Blass dropped off a TV set with fifteen kilograms of C-4 plastic explosive hidden inside, along with a VCR and a video tape of Hells Angels Forever to

1824-612: The Irish Canadians were an important element of the Montreal underworld, and the nightclub was a mine of contacts for Ryan. There, through the Irish-Canadian links with the Boston underworld, he found the bridge to bigger opportunities and his first costly setback". In 1966, he was convicted of a bank robbery in Boston for which he served 6 years of a 15-year sentence in an American prison. Ryan and four other men robbed

1900-531: The Mafia and the outlaw biker clubs who in turn sold drugs to the street gangs. He also began to engage in fund-raising and gun-running for the Irish Republican Army (IRA), both sending and receiving guns from Northern Ireland. Proud of his Irish heritage, Ryan wore a golden Claddagh ring on his third finger. Ryan was rumored to be worth $ 20 million, which was possibly an exaggeration, through he

1976-524: The Montreal neighbourhood of Rosemont , Blass would turn to amateur boxing as a way to channel his anger when he was a child. It was after a boxing fight that Blass committed one of his first known crimes, attacking fellow boxer Michel Gouin with a knife after losing a fight to him. Blass pleaded guilty to assault and spent one night in jail. Over time Blass became more obsessed with the Mafia activity going on in New York City . As obsessed as he

2052-417: The Montreal police formed a special squad known as the "Rubber Duck Squad" led by detective André Savard whose solo task was to hunt down those involved in the Brinks robbery of 30 March 1976. On 14 May 1976, a West End Gang member involved in the Brinks robbery, John Slawvey, was killed in a shoot-out with Savard who was attempting to arrest him on charges of robbery. On the night after Slawvey's killing, Savard

2128-533: The Montreal police stated about the West End Gang that they: "...weren't thugs selling drugs on the street like the French and the Italians...They had the best safecrackers and the best hijackers. Some of those guys were sixteen years old and today they're still at it". Typical of the West End Gang members were William "Billy" Morgan who was born in poverty to Irish-Canadian parents in Montreal in 1935 and grew up in

2204-451: The Snake" McLaughlin, a thief and a hitman suspected of least a dozen murders. McLaughlin was the prime suspect in the murders of George Groom in 1968, James McDonald in 1969, Gary Down in 1970, and Michael French in 1982. The most successful robbery committed by the West End Gang under Ryan's leadership was the theft of $ 2,275,884 in cash together with golden Olympic coins worth $ 5,000 from

2280-471: The United States. After Ross was convicted in 1992, leadership of the West End Gang was assumed by Gerald "Big Gerry" Matticks . The West End Gang originated as a network of loosely affiliated Irish-Canadian gangsters in Montreal . The gang, which emerged in the 1950s, was known at first as the Irish Gang, and the name West End Gang seems to have been adopted in the late 1970s. A disproportionate number of

2356-438: The West End Gang after Ryan's death. Ross' first action as leader was to hire Yves Trudeau to track down and kill those responsible for Ryan's murder. Paul April was boasting that, with Ryan dead, he was now roi de Montréal ("king of Montreal"). On 19 November 1984, Trudeau visited April's highrise apartment on De Maisonneuve Boulevard under the pretence of paying his respects to the self-proclaimed roi de Montréal on behalf of

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2432-411: The West End Gang moved from local rackets, bank heists and truck robberies into cross-border drug smuggling. In the 1970s, the gang took control of the Port of Montreal , which allowed them to import narcotics. The West End Gang initially began to import significant quantities of marijuana and hashish before Ryan and Allan Ross started smuggling large shipments of cocaine into Canada from Florida as

2508-572: The West End Gang robberies led to deaths. In an attempted robbery of a branch of the Bank of Montreal on the Beaver Hall Hill on 3 May 1971 led to a shoot-out with Raymond Lynch of the West End Gang being shot dead by the bank security guards together with an innocent by-stander Corrado Festa who was killed when he was caught in the cross-fire. On 12 September 1973, a group of West End Gang thieves led by William "Billy" MacAllister attempted to rob

2584-414: The age of 16 and led his own teenage gang who participated in "petty" crimes such as smash and grabs , garment thefts from trucks, and breaking and entering. Ryan's specialty as a teenager was in stealing fur coats from delivery trucks and selling them on the black market. By 1962, he already had dozens of convictions for robbery, possession of stolen goods, and possession of a false drivers' license. Ryan

2660-479: The apartment where April and Robert Lelièvre were hiding. Also in the apartment that day were Gilles Paquette, a petty criminal, and Louis Charles, a professional bank robber who had met April while they were imprisoned together at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul penitentiary. After leaving the apartment, Trudeau used a remote control to detonate the bomb. The explosion killed both April and Lelièvre along with Paquette and Charles. Eight bystanders were also injured. Ross paid for

2736-463: The bar on 21 January 1975. They locked ten men and three women inside a bar locker before killing all of them. What followed that act was one of the largest manhunts in Canadian history. On 24 January 1975, police located the chalet in Val-David where Blass was hiding. At 1:30 AM EST, three officers, led by Albert Lisacek , broke the windows of the chalet door and entered. As Blass approached them,

2812-577: The car they were in through the garage's door, though Blass required hospitalization for his wounds. He refused to identify his attackers, a fact which may have led him to earn respect among Canadian Mafia members. In January 1969, Blass and his gang tried to commit a bank robbery , but the attempt failed, and Blass shot a policeman as he was fleeing from the financial institution. He was arrested and sentenced to four consecutive terms of ten years in jail. On 6 May 1969, Vincenzo Di Maulo killed one of Blass's associates. On October 16 of that year, Blass became

2888-473: The contract out of the fear of the police reaction to the killing of a policeman, and Savard came out of hiding. After his initial forays in the drug market, Ryan realized that this was a market that could be expanded. He soon built a drug network that spread throughout Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic provinces . The West End Gang, as the Irish Gang had been renamed sometime in the late 1970s, took control of

2964-539: The drug's popularity increased in the early 1980s. The West End gang developed important contacts in the United States, South America and Europe, with some members working out of Florida. In 1980, Allan Ross was convicted of possession of a narcotic for the purposes of trafficking and sentenced to a 23-month prison term. Since that time, the gang has formulated ties to the Montreal Mafia , the Cosa Nostra ,

3040-453: The fuck you need'. Dunnie was like that. He was generous to a fault". Another West End Gang thief, Billy Morgan, called him "a very generous man" who was "very articulate" and "he never got mad. He was a perfect gentleman". In January 1982, Ryan learned that two Hells Angels, Denis "Le Curé" Kennedy and Charles Hachey, were planning to kidnap Ryan's children to force him to forgive their drug debts. Ryan gave an ultimatum to Buteau that either

3116-544: The gang's members come from the predominantly Irish working-class Pointe-Saint-Charles district of Montreal. Other West End Gang members are from the Goose Village and Griffintown neighbourhoods. Additionally, bars and motels in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district have served as headquarters and meeting places for members of the gang. Describing the origins of the West End Gang and how it differs from

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3192-628: The history of the West End Gang directed by Julian Sher , was released in November 2022. Montreal police estimate that the West End Gang currently consists of approximately 125 to 150 members and associates. The group often collaborates with the Montreal Mafia and the Hells Angels in enormous drug shipments and remains one of the most powerful and profitable criminal organizations in the country. Frank %22Dunie%22 Ryan Frank Peter "Dunie" Ryan Jr. (10 June 1942 – 13 November 1984)

3268-591: The hood, killing McGurnaghan and seriously injuring a passenger. On 13 November 1984, Frank Ryan was in his office at the Nittolo's Jardin Motel in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce , a motel and restaurant he owned which was a regular meeting place for West End Gang members. He was lured into an adjoining motel room by Paul April, a French-Canadian associate who told Ryan that an attractive young woman waiting to have sex with him there. April and an associate of his, Robert Lelièvre, who

3344-432: The jail visitor's window. Armed with various types of guns and rifles, he and other men were able to escape. Blass wanted to kill Raymond Laurin and Roger Lévesque, both of whom had participated in the 1969 bank robbery and testified against him. He found them both at a bar on 30 October 1974, and shot them dead. Convinced that he needed to kill all witnesses to the killings, Blass and gang partner Fernand Beaudet returned to

3420-467: The leader of the West End Gang . Starting in 1973, Ryan and the West End Gang went on a rampage of robbing jewelry stores and armoured cars for banks. Ryan's favorite place was Smitty's, a run-down bar on rue Sherbrooke, where he played pool, drank and planned robberies with his Irish-Canadian and French-Canadian associates. The West End Gang did have not the same rigid hierarchical structure of

3496-460: The leadership of Allan Ross, the West End Gang became involved in even more ambitious international drug schemes. While the West End Gang trafficked primarily in hashish and marijuana under Frank Ryan's regime, the gang moved more heavily into cocaine after Ross took control. The gang forged a partnership with a Florida-based cell of the Cali Cartel , transporting kilograms of cocaine into Canada via Nashville, Tennessee . Ross also formed contacts in

3572-794: The management of the Blue Parrot made any attempt to call the police or stop the beating. Maloney became a key member in the Wolfpack Alliance . On 1 November 2012, Maloney was charged with trafficking in cocaine; gangsterism; and arms smuggling. The police searched Maloney's house and found evidence linking to the theft of dynamite in Sainte-Sophie in August 2011. Found inside of his house were hundreds of guns; 1, 475 sticks of dynamite; two pounds of C-4 explosive and remote controls that could be used for bombs. In December 2013, Maloney

3648-460: The murder of Ryan. April and Lelièvre were killed in an apartment bombing less than two weeks later. Richard Blass Richard Blass (24 October 1945 – 24 January 1975) was a Canadian gangster and a multiple murderer. Born in Montreal , he was nicknamed Le Chat , French for The Cat , because of his luck in evading death after surviving at least three assassination attempts and a police shootout, and escaping from custody twice. Born in

3724-611: The murders by erasing a large drug debt owed to the West End Gang by the Laval chapter of the Hells Angels. The third conspirator in the murder of Frank Ryan was Eddie Phillips, who was suspected by Allan Ross of renting the motel room where Ryan was killed. Phillips was invited to drink with West End Gang member Billy McAllister at the Victoria Station bar on rue de Jean Talon in Mount Royal on 25 March 1985. As Phillips

3800-406: The officer used his cellphone to take pictures of the officers socializing with the gangsters at the Blue Parrot. Led by Maloney who noticed the policeman taking the photographs, the Hells Angels and the West End Gang members proceed to beat the policeman bloody, who required five hours of surgery in order to make his face resemble what it had been before the beating. The policeman noted that no-one in

3876-531: The officers opened fire, and Blass was hit by 27 bullets, dying within seconds. Police reports and testimony stated that Blass had shot first; however, in May 2012, Lisacek told journalist Warren Perley that Blass had been unarmed, and had only been 'wielding' a sock. He was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. The 1992 film Requiem for a Handsome Bastard (Requiem pour un beau sans-coeur)

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3952-430: The other prominent crime groups in Montreal, the journalist Julian Sher said: "The thing about the Hells Angels and the Mafia is those are global organizations... The West End Gang could only be born and thrive in this city and in a particular neighbourhood of this city. They had no desire to take over Toronto or even the north of the city. This was such an English-Montreal product. It's like Fairmount Bagels ". On

4028-429: The police estimated that McLaughlin and Kraus-Hillebrand had been killed in late 1983, and charged Winters with the murders. Winters believed that Ryan had sent McLaughlin to kill him over an unpaid drug debt, leading to him to strike first. Winters hanged himself in his cell the next day as he believed that Ryan would have him murdered in prison. Ryan was murdered on 13 November 1984. On the evening of his death, Ryan

4104-536: The services of the Angels' ace assassin, the hitman Yves "Apache" Trudeau . In November 1979, Ryan was subpoenaed to testify at la Commission d'Enuête sur le Crime Organisé who wanted to know why Ryan-who was officially unemployed as he never had a legitimate job once in his life-could afford the mortgage on his house. Ryan testified that during his time in Boston in the 1960s that he had stolen some $ 100,000 in various bank robberies, which he had hidden somewhere, which

4180-543: The significance of the gang's ethnic makeup and the location from which it merged, Julian explained: "One of the reasons the West End Gang was able to thrive is that they were able to some degree to fly under the radar, in a largely French city with a largely French police force. The West End Gang came out of a community that was doubly marginalized. They're an English minority in a French city, but they're also poor and they're Irish in English Montreal. They're poor in

4256-488: The two would-be kidnappers be killed or else he would cease selling drugs to the biker club. Buteau dispatched Trudeau after the two, whom Trudeau executed after taking them out for drinks in a bar. In 1983, Ryan had become wealthy enough to purchase to a large house at 541 Montrose Drive in the wealthy neighborhood of Beaconsfield , where he lived with his wife and two children. In 1983, Ryan sent McLaughlin, who proved to be very bloodthirsty as he enjoyed killing people to

4332-526: The valuables on his corpse. The police found in Ryan's wallet $ 6,350 in cash along with a gold chain still around his neck and a Rolex watch still on his wrist. Four days later, Ryan's funeral was held at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church in Montreal, attended by his mother May, wife Evelyn, his two children, and another 200 mourners. Among those who attended the funeral were Allan "The Weasel" Ross and Laurent "L'anglais" Viau, Michel Blass and Yves Trudeau of

4408-652: Was Shane Kenneth Maloney , known as "Wheels" as he is confined to a wheelchair. On 27 October 2011, an officer with the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal on vacation in Playa del Carmen in Mexico saw two other officers of Service de police de la Ville de Montréal socializing with members of the West End Gang and the Montreal Hells Angels at the Blue Parrot nightclub. Upset with the apparent corruption,

4484-450: Was a Canadian gangster and the leader of the West End Gang , a Montreal -based criminal organization. Ryan was born of Irish descent in a poor neighborhood of Montreal . His father, Frank Ryan Sr. abandoned their family when Ryan was three years old, leaving his mother, May, to raise him by herself. Ryan's mother called him "junior", which he mispronounced as "Dunie", which became his lifelong nickname. Ryan dropped out of school at

4560-399: Was armed with a shotgun, planned to tie Ryan to a chair and force him to reveal where he had hidden his fortune before killing him. Ryan resisted and threw a chair at Lelièvre, who then shot him in the chest. As Ryan lay dying on the floor, he was shot again in the head with a .45 handgun. By killing Ryan, April and Lelièvre erased a $ 200,000 drug debt they owed him. Allan Ross took control of

4636-409: Was at the Nittolo's Jardin Motel on St. Jacques Street West in Montreal when Paul April, a French-Canadian associate, told him there was an attractive young woman waiting to have sex with him in the adjoining room. April and his associate, Robert Lelièvre, who had a shotgun, planned to tie Ryan to a chair and force him to reveal where he had hidden his fortune before killing him. Ryan resisted and threw

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4712-574: Was clearly wealthy. Ryan's prize possession was his 36-foot yacht that he sailed on the St. Lawrence River. By the late 1970s, Ryan developed relationships with other criminal organizations in Montreal, including the Hells Angels and Cotroni crime family . Ryan made a deal with Frank Cotroni that the Controni family would buy drugs exclusively from the West End Gang. As both of these criminal organizations depended on Ryan's steady supply of drugs, Ryan

4788-557: Was convicted in Gainesville, Florida of conspiring to import and traffic in at least 10,000 kilograms of cocaine and more than 300 tonnes of marijuana between 1975 and 1989, for which he was sentenced to life in prison. The following year, he was sentenced to an additional 30 years' imprisonment when he was found guilty in Fort Lauderdale, Florida of conspiring to traffic in cocaine and conspiracy to commit murder. After Ross

4864-532: Was convicted of assault for his role in the Blue Parrot incident of 2011. In April 2017, Maloney was found guilty of the charges relating to his weapons and explosive cache and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Maloney worked as a member of the Wolfpack, but transferred his loyalty towards helping the Sinaloa Cartel in smuggling cocaine direct into Ontario. Kings of Coke , a documentary film chronicling

4940-399: Was imprisoned, leadership of the West End Gang was assumed by Gerald "Big Gerry" Matticks . In 2003 onetime gang associate Peter MacAllister wrote a novel called Dexter based on real stories from the gang. In 2005, a 300 kilogram shipment of a total 1,300 kilograms of cocaine, co-organized by Rizzuto crime family confidante, Francesco Del Balso and West End Gang member, Richard Griffin,

5016-522: Was intercepted in Boucherville, Quebec by police. After Griffin invested $ 1.5 million in the purchase and transportation of the cocaine, he demanded $ 350,000 from the Rizzutos for not taking preventive measures in transporting the drugs. After arguments about the debts, Griffin was killed by gunfire outside his home in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on July 12, 2006. A key member of the gang in recent years

5092-453: Was killed with five shots to the head. One of the persons that Blass and his group killed, Francesco Grado, had connections to the Mafia. Grado was a loan shark for the Mafia. He was murdered with multiple gunshots. On 24 August 1968, the first Mafia attempt against Blass's life took place, when two hired gunmen entered a bar where Blass was enjoying some drinks. Although shot at multiple times, Blass escaped unscathed. Two weeks later, Blass

5168-449: Was known for his rambunctious and rowdy personality, often saying he wanted to "live fast, love hard and die young". Ryan continued his crime spree throughout the 1960s, being convicted of robbery with violence and of burglary. He served both sentences at the St. Vincent de Paul prison. In 1965, Ryan killed a man while driving drunk. His conviction was overturned on a technicity. Ryan felt

5244-428: Was known within the Montreal underworld as the "King of Coke". Ryan was a popular gang boss, who was well liked for his generosity towards his men with one of his followers, John Philips calling him a "honorable thief". Philips recalled that Ryan would "help anybody that came out of the can [prison] anytime! He'd say, 'Well, I'd see what I can for you. Here's five hundred bucks; go get yourselves some clothes and whatever

5320-598: Was on the top of the criminal foodchain in Quebec. Ryan was known for his contempt for the other criminal organizations, once saying: "Mafia, pafia. If there's a war, we've got the IRA". Through his American cousin, Peter White, Ryan made an alliance with the Irish Mob of Boston. Ryan also formed an alliance with Yves Buteau , the national president of the Hells Angels, whom became one of his largest customers. Buteau also become Ryan's main subcontractor as Ryan often made use of

5396-463: Was phoned by the lawyer Sidney Leithman who told him: "There's a lot of talk going and I think you should be careful, André. There's a lot of people not happy and you can push only so much...call this a warning if you want, but be careful and take care". Savard heard rumors that the West End Gang leader Frank Ryan had placed a $ 50,000 contract on his life, which caused to live under armed guard for some time afterwards. Under Frank Ryan's leadership,

5472-483: Was the bar of the Cavalier Motel on rue St. Jacques, where a collection of criminals would go to meet him at what was known as "the zoo". When another crime figure, Patrick "Hughie" McGurnaghan, cheated Ryan in a drug deal and carried a $ 100,000 debt, Ryan contacted the Hells Angels' North chapter for assistance. Hells Angels member Trudeau was dispatched to kill McGurnaghan. On 27 October 1981, Trudeau planted

5548-462: Was the source of his income. Through his claim was not believed, it was not possible for the commissioners to disprove his claim. Despite not having a job, Ryan was able to afford the services of Sidney Leithman who was regarded as one of Montreal's best lawyers and was the preferred defense counsel for gangsters. Leithman successfully defended Ryan several times, and was rewarded with a golden Claddagh ring by Ryan. By 1980, Ryan's base of operations

5624-435: Was tracked by the Mafia to a motel named "Le Manoir de Plaisance" in a Montreal suburb. The motel was set on fire and three people died, but Blass escaped the blaze. Police investigation indicated arson as the fire's cause. In October 1968, Blass was injured by bullet shots to the head and back after being ambushed, alongside partner Claude Ménard, inside a garage. the gunman was Joe Di Maulo. The two survived; Ménard drove

5700-504: Was walking towards the bar in the parking lot, a motorcycle rode up to him while another member of the West End Gang, David Singer, who was in the passenger seat, stepped off and shot Phillips five times in the back. The driver of the motorcycle has never been conclusively identified. Singer subsequently went into hiding in Florida, but Ross had doubts whether he could handle a police interrogation, leading him to order Singer's murder. Under

5776-554: Was with the Mafia, however, he was also known for his hatred of Mafia families: resenting the fact that the Italian Mafia had a stranglehold on Montreal's underworld business during the late 1960s, Blass was involved in violent feuds with many Mafiosi , particularly those related to Frank Cotroni and brothers Joe and Vincenzo Di Maulo. On 7 May 1968, Blass and Robert Allard ambushed Cotroni outside his home; two of his bodyguards were killed, but Cotroni escaped. He also worked as

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