| Matticks Affair |
| It was thought to be bust that finally decimated the Matticks crew. But it was the police that end up defending themselves in court.
After seizing more than 26 tonnes of hashish at the Port of Montreal, more than 100 police officers swooped down on kingpins of the notorious West End Gang. Gerald Matticks was arrested at his LaPrairie home, while his brother Richard was picked up in Lachine. Also accused were Donald Driver, John McLean, William Hodges, Felice Italiano, John McLean, and Steve Brown. Just another open-and-shut investigation for the Sûreté du Québec? Nothing was further from the truth. A dramatic turn of events would turn the tables on the provincial police force. As a defence lawyer rummaged through the stacks of evidence, he discovered some shocking inconsistencies. As it turned out, several waybills that investigators said they had seized a t the customs-brokerage business of William Hodges had in fact been provided to police by Canadian Customs officials weeks prior to the bust. The information was brought before Quebec Court Justice Micheline Corbeil-Laramee. While the Crown insisted the mistake had been made in “good faith”, the defence argued that the evidence had been planted. The judge ruled that the evidence had been tampered with and tossed out the charges against the Matticks brothers and their associates. The controversy, which was dubbed the Matticks Affair, was far from over. Charges of obstructing justice and perjury were brought against four Sûreté du Québec detectives involved in the investigation. The charges produced outrage from the police community, who packed the courtroom to encourage their comrades. During the trial, fellow police officer Mario Simard testified that the accused had hassled him into lying to prosecutors in charge of the drug case. Roger Primeau, another police officer, collaborated much of what Simard said and added that he didn’t remember seizing any waybills during their search of the customs-brokerage business. The crown prosecutor of the drug case also testified at the trial. Madeleine Giauque reportedly told the jury that the alleged tampering of the evidence was simply an error and not deliberate. Giauque also testified that she was approached by a lawyer shortly after the drug bust and offered a trip to the Dominican Republic if she chose not to impose bail for the alleged West End Gang members. The four detectives were acquitted on June 9, 1996, but the scandal continued. Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard shortly thereafter announced that an extensive public inquiry would be launched into practices of the Sûreté du Québec. Former chief of justice Lawrence Poitras was to head the inquiry. The Poitras Commission was launched in October 1996, and over a period of 21 months, listened to dozens of witnesses and collected 65,000 pages of evidence. The hearings cost taxpayers $20 million. The result was a 1734-page report with 175 recommendations that was submitted to the security minister in December 1998. In the report, the Poitras Commission called for a sweeping reform of the Sûreté du Québec, which it said routinely broke laws during investigations. The Commission urged the government establish a “civilian body” to oversee the police force’s activities. But while Gerald Matticks rubbed the scandal in the face of police in an interview with a Montreal Gazette reporter, it was the Sûreté du Québec that had the last laugh. The kingpin was arrested in a police operation in 2001 and again accused of importing drugs through the Port of Montreal. This time, Matticks pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. |