This windfall wasn't just a payday; it was seed money. Under the leadership of , the gang used the proceeds to pivot from robberies to international drug trafficking. Kings of Coke: The Global Empire
Their story is one of survival and cold-blooded ambition—a uniquely Montreal product that, as journalist Julian Sher puts it, could only have been born in the marginalized English-speaking enclaves of a French city. Montreal's Irish Mafia: The True Story of the I...
: The "King of Coke" who transformed the gang into a multi-billion dollar enterprise before his 1984 assassination in a seedy motel. This windfall wasn't just a payday; it was seed money
The West End Gang never truly vanished. Police estimate they still maintain 125 to 150 members and associates. Recent figures like have kept the gang in the news, linked to massive weapons caches and the elusive "Wolfpack Alliance". : The "King of Coke" who transformed the
They built their reputation on grit and precision, evolving from local muscle for other syndicates into the most successful bank robbers and truck hijackers in North America. In the 1960s, Montreal was the "Bank Robbery Capital of North America," and the West End Gang was a major reason why. The 1976 Brinks Heist: A Turning Point
The gang’s story begins in the mid-20th century in neighborhoods like ("The Point"), Griffintown, and Goose Village. Emerging in the 1950s as a loose network of Irish-Canadian thieves, they were initially known simply as the "Irish Gang".