Canadian fugitive gunned down in Mexican resort town

Article content

A wanted Canadian man with alleged ties to the Hells Angels and cocaine trafficking was shot and killed in broad daylight in a Mexican Riviera resort town on Saturday.

According to local authorities, 39-year-old Mathieu Bélanger of Repentigny, Que., had left a gym in Playa del Carmen’s residential area and was entering his SUV when two people arrived and opened fire before fleeing on a motorcycle.

Article content

Riviera Maya News reported Bélanger having been shot in the head five times, with some of the bullets passing through the driver’s side window. More than a dozen shell casings were reported at the scene.

Police later said his death was a targeted execution carried out by the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction.

The matter is under investigation.

Who is Mathieu Bélanger?

Bélanger and his partner, identified as 33-year-old Andrée-Ann Vignola-Sullivan, have been living in the community on the Yucatán Peninsula’s Riviera Maya strip using false Mexican documents for two years.

The pair reportedly have children, but it’s not clear how many.

On the run since 2022, both are wanted by Quebec police on a Canada-wide warrant for improper storage and unauthorized possession of firearms.

As reported by La Presse, Bélanger fled south in April of that year after escaping a National Organized Crime Repression Squad raid in Montreal targeting traffickers linked to the Hells Angels.

Known as “Barbu” to police, Bélanger is believed to have been associated with Fratrum, a criminal organization supplying the outlaw motorcycle club with narcotics.

Police theorized the group wanted to take over territory in the city and used member-owned businesses to launder the illegal gains.

Sources told Le Journal de Montréal that Bélanger maintained a close relationship with Seeyomak Salemi-Seyfeddine, a Fratrum leader who goes by “The Persian” and is said to have close ties with the Hells Angels.

During his time in Mexico, La Presse reported Quebec police suspect Bélanger has remained involved in trafficking, acting as a middleman between cartels and Hells Angels and possibly other criminal organizations.

He was arrested for possession of a firearm and methamphetamines in a traffic stop by local police this March but was not charged.

Article content

What are Canadian officials saying?

Canadian authorities have yet to confirm the identity of the deceased individual.

Global Affairs Canada, in an email response to the National Post’s request for confirmation and comment, said it was “aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Mexico” and that consular officials have contacted local authorities.

“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”

The RCMP, which referred the National Post to global affairs, had previously confirmed to the Canadian Press that a fugitive sought by Sûreté du Québec had died in Mexico but released no other details.

— With files from the Canadian Press

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Share this article in your social network