Raymond Desfossés

Raymond Desfossés (22 September 1950 – 31 July 2024), also known as "Trifluvien", was a Canadian gangster and senior member of the West End Gang of Montreal.

Criminal career "The Cocaine King of Trois-Rivières" Born in Trois-Rivières, Desfossés joined the Montreal-based West End Gang in the early 1970s and he became closely associated with the group's leaders, Frank "Dunie" Ryan and Allan "the Weasel" Ross. Overseeing the gang's drug operations in his hometown, he earned the sobriquet "Le roi de la cocaïne de Trois-Rivières" ("The Cocaine King of Trois-Rivières"). Desfossés was also given the nickname "Trifluvien" in underworld circles, which is a Québécois term for a resident of Trois-Rivières. He developed a reputation as a businessman-like operator, who had many connections and who spoke English very well. Desfossés was suspected by police in three murders which allegedly took place at the Rio nightclub in Trois-Rivières in the early 1970s. No bodies were ever found, however, and the murders remain unsolved despite several excavations at the site. In 1975, Desfossés became acquainted with Gérald Gallant while they were both incarcerated at Cowansville. Gallant would later tell police: "...Desfossés really impressed me. He controlled drug trafficking inside the penitentiary. He was a real big crime boss." Gallant was retained as a hitman for Desfossés between 1980 and 2001, carrying out at least six contract killings, for which he was paid $10,000 to $12,000 per murder. The first murder that Gallant committed on Desfossés' behalf occurred on 30 January 1980, when Louis Desjardins, a drug dealer who Desfossés suspected of cooperating with authorities, was lured to a tyre garage owned by Gallant in Port-Cartier and shot in the head. Although he did not order the hit, Desfossés provided Gallant with a driver, Réjean-Claude Juneau, for the 16 February 1984 assassination of Marcel Lefrançois in Sainte-Foy.

On 8 August 1984, Desfossés was arrested on charges relating to a $134,000 Brink's truck robbery which took place at a Knob Hill Farms food terminal in Pickering, Ontario on 29 June 1984. Desfossés and fellow West End Gang member Alain Strong were dispatched to the United States by Ross after he decided to eliminate another member, David Singer. Singer had gone into hiding in Florida after killing Eddie Phillips, a conspirator in the assassination of Ryan, in March 1985. Ross had doubts whether Singer could handle a potential police interrogation, leading him to order Singer's murder. Desfossés and Strong met with John Quitoni, another of Ross' associates, who provided them with a loaded .38 caliber revolver. On 10 May 1985, Singer was lured into a stolen car with Desfossés and Strong, after which Strong fatally shot him three times in the head and chest. Singer's body was discarded at the side of a road in Dania Beach. Desfossés and Strong were then pursued by Florida Highway Patrol officer Michael Foti after running a red light. Desfossés pulled the vehicle over and then opened fire as Foti approached, wounding him in the leg, before fleeing the scene. Quitoni drove the two Canadians to the airport the following day and they returned to Quebec. Strong was identified by a witness, however, and the Montreal telephone number of Ross' wife, Elaine Cohen, was also found by police on Singer's person. This evidence allowed authorities to link Desfossés to the murder.

Desfossés aligned himself with the Rock Machine during the final years of the Quebec Biker War, and he put a $250,000 murder contract on the head of Hells Angels leader Maurice "Mom" Boucher in the summer of 2000. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to his leading role in the enterprise and was sentenced to thirteen years' imprisonment.

Death Desfossés died on 31 July 2024, at the age of 73.