Fugitive Canadian Hells Angels Trafficker Gunned Down in Mexican Resort Town

“Socalj” for Borderland Beat

Just over a year since the high-profile public gym killing of Canadian Hells Angels linked trafficker Samy Tamouro by CJNG gunmen (followed a week later by the suicide death of his girlfriend in Mexico). Another Canadian fugitive, wanted since April 2022, was gunned down in Playa del Carmen.

The Canadian man shot to death in a Playa del Carmen parking lot has been identified as 39 year old Mathieu Bélanger from Quebec. According to local information, he was living in Playa del Carmen with his girlfriend using false Mexican documents. The pair have been tied to a Canadian Hells Angels group supplying drugs to the greater Montreal, Quebec area.

On Saturday, Bélanger was found dead in his Jeep Wagoneer SUV, shot five times in the head. He had just left a GNC nutrition center in Playacar and was alone in his vehicle at the time of the shooting by two men on a motorcycle.

At least three bullet holes were visible to the driver’s side window and a dozen shell casings were found.

The black Jeep was backed into its parking spot and had no license plates on it.

According to Riviera Maya News, citing local investigators, Mathieu Bélanger was killed by members of the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Local news page DIME News Quintana Roo reported that Mathieu was a member of or linked to the CJNG cartel. Other news outlets in Canada reported he had become a trusted trafficking figure within the CJNG during his short time in Mexico.

Hells Angels Montreal member and Fratrum sponsor Vincent Boulanger during his March 2022 arrest.

He was suspected of being part of a group called Fratrum, sponsored by the Hells Angels Montreal figure, Vincent Boulanger.

Alleged Fratrum members helped supply drugs to Hells Angels in Montreal.

According to investigators, the Fratrum sought to take control of drug trafficking territories in the greater Montreal area and its members used companies to launder money. Bélanger’s residence was searched by ENRCO investigators in December 2020. An arrest warrant for he and his partner were issued in April 2022, the pair fled that month to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Fleeing Quebec

In Canada he was a known as drug trafficker “Barbu” who had ties to the Hells Angels. Both he and his 33 year old partner, also from Quebec, were living in Playa del Carmen and considered fugitives.

The pair were targeted as part of the Percuter investigation, conducted in April 2022 by the National Organized Crime Repression Squad (ENRCO) and aimed at dismantling the criminal organization. Bélanger was wanted in Canada by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) for unauthorized possession of a firearm and improper storage.

Fratrum group leader Seeyomak Salemi-Seyfeddine, known as “The Persian.”

Mathieu Bélanger was close to one of the leaders of the Fratrum group, Seeyomak Salemi-Seyfeddine, known “The Persian” who has close ties with the Hells Angels. He was arrested in April 2022 and in 2023 pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and gangsterism charges.

Even though he fled Canada, like many other wanted traffickers the pair fled to Mexico and remained very active in cocaine trafficking to Quebec and continued to coordinate from Mexico.

His partner, Andrée-Ann Vignola Sullivan, 33, is also wanted by Quebec on firearm charges. Both are from Repentigny, Quebec. The couple moved to Quintana Roo from Oaxaca in 2022. She remains in Playa del Carmen with their children.

Wanted profiles for the pair are still visible on Canadian authorities websites. The RCMP confirmed that a fugitive sought by Sûreté du Québec had died in Mexico but released no other details.

Recent Arrest in Mexico

They had been living in Playa del Carmen for two years after relocating from Oaxaca. “Barbu” is reported to have continued his Canadian-linked criminal activity in Playa del Carmen trafficking cocaine.

Mathieu Bélanger was arrested by Playa del Carmen police in April 2024. Bélanger was stopped by the SSC (Secretary of Citizen Security) of Solidaridad in a federal highway filter in April 2024 and arrested after police found a revolver, ammunition and what appeared to be a large quantity of meth in his vehicle. His Chevrolet truck was seized at the time of his arrest. He was later released.

Sources Riviera Maya News, National Post, Le Journal de Montreal, Le Journal de Montreal, DIME News, La Presse