Canada City Police Force Displaced in Drug Probe : Law: 35 people in Montreal suburb are charged with trafficking and other abuses after a secret investigation.

In a scene out of “The Untouchables,” Quebec provincial police have swept into this Montreal suburb and displaced the entire 24-member police force in a drug-dealing and corruption investigation.

Charges were brought Friday against 35 people, including two police officers, one from Chambly and another from neighboring Brossard. Among the charges filed were trafficking in anabolic steroids, conspiracy, possession of stolen property and weapons violations, said prosecutor Madeleine Giauque. She added that more charges are expected next week.

Meanwhile, members of the provincial police, known here as Surete du Quebec, occupied the small brick police headquarters, patrolled streets and carried out other local enforcement duties. They also questioned city officials, including Mayor Pierre Bourbonnais, himself a Montreal police officer.

This pleasant bedroom community of 17,000, set on a reservoir half an hour’s drive east of Montreal, has every appearance of a typical middle-class suburb.

Except for the snow shovels in the garages and the street signs in French, many of the neighborhoods would not look out of place in Anaheim or the San Gabriel Valley.

But for years Chambly has been the subject of rumors of local corruption linked to drug-dealing gangs. The Surete du Quebec and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched investigations in 1988, 1992 and 1993, but each was compromised by leaks.

This time, the probe was kept secret for five months and the first thing provincial officers did when they began their raids and seizures at 6 a.m. Thursday was to nab all the Chambly police and move them to a nearby military base for questioning.

At least 140 people were reportedly interrogated Thursday, and 350 provincial police participated in the raids, which took place throughout Quebec but were centered here.

Constable Lucie Boult, a Surete du Quebec spokeswoman, said Friday that four prosecutors had been assigned to review evidence.

She added that Chambly police officers would be subject to internal discipline as well as criminal charges in the probe. She said potential violations included alcohol and cigarette smuggling, fraud and bribery, in addition to the charges brought Friday.

Boult emphasized that not every Chambly officer is under suspicion and said some could be back on the job as early as next week, after discussions between provincial investigators and city officials.

Provincial police will continue to perform local functions as long as necessary, she said.

Bourbonnais was huddled with aides and investigators Friday and was unavailable for comment. But he told Canadian reporters Thursday that he was shocked by the corruption reports. That brought snorts of derision from some residents familiar with previous investigations.

“This is an old town where everyone locks elbows and protects each other. You’d see police driving around in Corvettes and wonder where they got the money. Everyone would whisper, but no one talked,” one woman, who described herself as a retired history teacher, told reporters.

The Chambly police force has been without a chief since June, when Fernand Gagnon’s contract was not renewed after five years. Gagnon, a former Surete du Quebec officer, is suing for reinstatement and asserted that he instigated the investigation that led to the raids.

The Chambly raid followed by a few days a series of arrests throughout Quebec in a broad cocaine-smuggling and money-laundering investigation by the Mounted Police and the Surete du Quebec.

Although unrelated, the two actions represent an increased emphasis by authorities on halting the illegal trade in drugs, tax-free alcohol and tax-free cigarettes in the province.

Much of the smuggling occurs on the border between Quebec and the United States. The United States serves as the source of the alcohol and cigarettes and the destination for many of the illegal drugs, police say.