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| Allan Strong |
| Allan Strong was born in Gatineau, Quebec, in 1947. Not much is known about his early years but, by the mid 1980s, Strong was one of Allan "The Weasel" Ross' main lieutenants in the West End Gang. Strong owned a used car lot with his brother Patrick but made the majority of his money through drug trafficking. He was also known in the press as Ross' trusted right-hand man and was often seen by the chief's side. On July 24, 1984, the RCMP witnessed Strong having a conversation with Ronald Villeneuve in a parking lot near the latter's Ottawa apartment. Police learned, through a wiretap at |
| Strong's home, that Villeneuve was supposed to make a trip to Montreal. The RCMP raided his home the next day and found sixty kilograms of hashish and six kilos of speed. When Ross wanted drug trafficker David Singer murdered in 1985, he gave the assignment to Strong and Trois-Rivieres gang representative Raymond Desfossés. The two men tracked Singer down in Florida and lured him into a car and, while Desfossés drove, Strong placed a pillow over Singer's face and fired two fatal shots. They dumped his body on the side of a road in Dania and, as they headed to the nearest highway, Desfossés passed through a red light. The traffic violation incited the pursuit of a Highway Patrol officer. The cop pulled the duo over but, as he walked towards their vehicule, Desfossés leaned out of the window and shot him in the leg. Strong and Desfossés successfully escaped the scene. Or so they thought. Police found the telephone number of Allan Ross' wife on David Singer's body. The clue led the DEA back to Strong, Desfossés, and Ross. Strong was indicted by U.S. prosecutors on charges of murder and narcotics trafficking in 1990 but went into hiding. Labelled the "fat fugitive" by police, Strong managed to avoid capture for over three years. He mocked efforts to pursue him and even sent the RCMP a photo of himself basking in the sun on the Riviera [seen above]. Strong was finally snared on February 6, 1994, outside a hotel in Amsterdam and extradited to Florida to face charges. Judge Maurice Paul, who sentenced Strong's boss Allan Ross to life in 1992, presided over the case. Jean-Francois Leboeuf, a Strong henchman that was also on trial, decided to flip and testify against him for leniency. On March 29, 1996, after a four week trial, Strong was convicted of conspiring to distribute 1000 kilograms of marijurana and five kilos of cocaine. He was sentenced to a lengthy prison term. |