Gang leader Gerald Matticks controlled the drug trade through Montreal’s port

On a balmy evening in June 1996, the back room at Mickey’s country and western bar just outside Montreal was smoky and the music, muted. Surrounded by cronies, the bar’s owner, Gerry Matticks, was in his element, sitting at a large, round table and gesticulating with a tumbler of gin while reminiscing about his life to this reporter.

“I inherited who I am from my family,” he said. “We’re not saints. I’m a fast talker and I talk rough, but that’s not my meaning, if you know what I mean.”