| Réal "Tin Tin" Dupont |
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| Réal "Tin Tin" Dupont was born in the late 1950s and allegedly became a major South Shore drug trafficker. According to the Surete du Quebec, Dupont financed an organization that controlled the distribution of drugs in Chambly, a city of over 100,000 residents. He also reportedly maintained links with Gerald Matticks, leader of the West End Gang. He was the chief organizer the Régates internationales Labatt 50 de Chambly between 1990 and 1993. The boat races drew up to 125,000 people a year. Dupont became a member of the Rock Machine some time in the early to mid 1990s. Over the years, he would maintain a low profile and, until his murder in 2001, his name rarely came up as being associated with the biker gang. |
A Surete du Quebec police investigation led in 1994 ended with drug trafficking charges being laid against Dupont and five others. According to the documents, the group trafficked mostly in cocaine and hashish and was distributed by dealers in bars through out Chambly. In a the raid on Dupont's home in Saint-Hyacinthe, police found hashish, magic mushrooms, a booklet containing instructions of how to grow marijuana, counterfeit money, and a firearm. During the operation, investigators saw atleast seven Chambly police officers meeting with Dupont and the latter's associates, Réal Guillemette and Jean-Pierre Coupal. Dupont and Guillemette allegedly bragged about operating with "protection" from authorities and receiving "privileged information." Dupont was eventually convicted and sentenced to six months. After his release, Dupont went back to his same tricks. The RCMP arrested him on September 7, 1995, with $120 million in counterfeit bills. Mounties swooped down on Dupont as he and another man were moving the money from a trailer to a van in a parking lot on Saint-Louis street in Lemoyne. Two of Dupont's associates, Daniel Vachon and Barney Ross, were also charged. According to authorities, the group planned to sell the funny money to distributors for 12 percent of it's value, around $14 million. The distributors would then sell the fake $100 bills for about $25 a piece. The bust was the largest seizure of counterfeit money ever made. Dupont was convicted and sentenced to 98 months in prison. Dupont was gunned down as he sat behind the wheel of his Sedan outside the Bonaventure arena in Saint-Laurent on January 18, 2001. He was 41 years old and still on parole from his counterfeiting conviction.. Biker expert Guy Ouellette said that the murder was "probably Hells Angels related and we will see the [biker] war started again soon." |