Police say owner of Montreal motel was implicated in drug trade, sex trafficking

The owner of Motel St-Jacques, a 31-room guest house located on a dead-end street in western Montreal, where $45 bought a four-hour stay and $40 allegedly bought a bag of crack cocaine, profited from the prostitution and drug trade that took place there, according to police.

The owner, Jitendrakumar Patel, who went by Jack, according to a police affidavit filed in Quebec court last week, helped undercover police officers buy drugs, including crack cocaine and fentanyl. The affidavit alleges he also facilitated and earned extra money from sex trafficking that took place on the premises.

The allegations against him and his employee, a concierge who police say dealt drugs and hid them behind the motel's front desk, have not yet been tested in court.

A months-long police investigation culminated in a raid involving dozens of police officers and social workers last Thursday. Patel and the employee were arrested and a judge ordered government administrators to take control of the motel.

A police car sits outside the Motel St-Jacques on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The authorities have seized the building. (Kwabena Oduro/CBC)

Motel St-Jacques is located on Westmore Avenue, off of St-Jacques Street, in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. Reviews for the establishment describe bed bugs, constant comings and goings and loud altercations behind closed doors.

In the affidavit, Montreal police say that it was public knowledge that drug and sex trafficking had been ongoing at the motel for years. Four people died of overdoses there since 2021 and, every year, police at Station 9 execute a quarter of all their arrest warrants at the motel.

"Police [are there] every day, multiple times a day," said Matthew Critch, an NDG resident who lives near the motel. "It's tiresome, very, very tiresome.… There's always a situation."

Stéphane Desroches, the commander of Station 9, the police station that covers much of Montreal's West End which oversaw the criminal investigation, called the motel "a toxic environment" and said the situation there worsened in the past few years.

"It was known in the area for a long time, but when we exited the pandemic, there was really a preoccupation with what was going on there," he said.

In March, Montreal police began an investigation involving multiple undercover officers and surveillance teams.

The undercover operators, whose actions are described in the affidavit, went to the motel in the guise of a pimp and prostitute. They rented a room from "Jack," Patel's pseudonym, for four hours and agreed to pay the motel owner an extra $10 for each additional client who arrived at the room.

To the police, the extra fee and the conversations the undercover officers had with Patel demonstrated that he was aware and even willing to profit from prostitution taking place at his establishment.

Damaged doors were seen Tuesday at the Motel St-Jacques. (Kwabena Oduro/CBC)

The undercover officers also successfully purchased drugs on the premises, including crack cocaine and fentanyl, with the help of Patel and his concierge, according to the affidavit.

The day of the raid, social service providers, including shelter representatives and health authorities, were present and provided housing and other services to several women.

Patel is facing charges of drug trafficking and benefiting from sexual services.