The Dubois Brothers engaged in extortion, the exploitation of strippers and prostitutes, drug trafficking, loan sharking, and the murder of rival victims.
[2] The Dubois Brothers had explained in an interview that in school they were mocked because of what they wore and many times had to skip meals or could only have molasses sandwiches.
[5] In the final years of his life he lived in a cottage north of Montreal in Saint Adele and presided over a company, which was registered as a real-estate firm.
It is believed that the strength of the Dubois Brothers was built from the trust that they had between them, they were said to have made a gang of perfect cohesion in their neighbourhood who few would compete against.
[2] They built their criminal organization and power on intimidation and violence; they reigned like crime lords over illegitimate and legitimate businesses in their controlled territories.
[7] The Dubois Brothers were not considered ones to hold back, and they acted to a degree they thought was necessary regardless of the cost, which reaffirmed the cruelty they demonstrated to their victims and foes that in turn shaped their reputation.
Instances such as when a restaurant owner stood up to the Brothers insisting that they needed to pay for their food, which resulted in him being assaulted and a knife taken to his chest in order to carve a cross in it.
Mercier, a Montreal journalist, started to realize how much corruption and integration into the community the group had once he began to follow one of the assault cases through the courts.
The Dubois Brothers also received permits, swung votes to which person they wanted through intimidation and were able to get judges to give reduced sentences.
However, with his change of careers due to the company finding out about his corruption, the Dubois Brothers turned him into their lawyer, opening an office and giving them legal information.
[1] The Dubois Brothers began in the 1950s with petty street crimes and eventually moved on to the four oldest brothers- Raymond, Jean-Guy, Normand and Claude- starting to convince local bar owners to give them protection funds and other extortions.
[1] By the 1960s, the Dubois Brothers began targeting the owners and employees of nightclubs, bars and taverns in the eastern side of the city.
Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, the Dubois Brothers expanded their territory into the downtown region as they challenged the supremacy of the Cotroni Mafia family.
The Cotroni Family began to show signs of weakness around the 1970s, allowing the expansion of the Dubois Brothers territory into both the east and west sides of Montreal.
[1] The Brothers would start by frequenting a bar or nightclub either themselves or through sending an associate or cronies, they would begin by seeming friendly and then move on to picking fights with patrons, vandalizing the premises, commence harassing staff and assaulting the owner in a hostile take over.
[1] Another similar case was that of Laurier Gatien, owner the Tavern Montreal, who had to endure multiple attempts on his life including shootings, knifing, and attacks with billiard cues and balls.
[1] One of their associates who turned informant, Dugenais, told police that the majority of the Dubois Brothers loan shark customers were taxi drivers who would take the money to go to nightclubs and racetracks.
[2] One of their previous drug pushers stated that the Dubois Brothers could get a pound of marijuana for $30 imported from Mexico and were able to sell it on the streets for up to $750, making a major profit.
[2] The Dubois Brothers, specifically Adrien, Claude and Rolland, had branched off into drug trafficking in the mid 1970s and were controlling, in the west end and city center of Montreal, the sales of marijuana, hashish, LSD, amphetamines, and cocaine.
[1] Montreal police were able to seize a drug distribution for the Dubois Brothers that consisted of nearly two million tenure pills in late 1973 to early 1974.
[2] The Valentine's Eve Massacre happened on the south side of Montreal, in Hôtel Lapinière on February 13, 1975, which was a hangout of the McSween gang.
Claude Dubois considered this as a threat and intrusion into his and his Brothers territory and hired another muscle group of bikers called the Popeyes Motorcycle Club led by Yves Buteau.
[9] The Popeyes then began selling and managing the drugs in Saint-Henri square and the surrounding area after they chased out the Disciples, but this was short lived as the Montreal Police had assembled a well- organized task force to take down the Dubois Brothers.
On November 17, 1975, the police began to set forth action by organizing a task force in order to bring down the powerful Dubois Brothers.
[3] The name would have been all but forgotten in Montreal if it were not for Adrien Dubois, who had become a successful businessman, after he was acquitted from his crime, owning buildings and nightclubs in Laurentian.