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The audacious daylight killing of a influential Quebec gang leader inside a suburban Starbucks this week could signal a new, more unstable and aggressive climate when it comes to criminal organizations, analysts report.

Leadership Void Emerging

The detentions of suspected senior, older members of the local underworld in June has possibly created a void – meaning upcoming, junior gangs are striving to secure territory.

Shooting Incident Particulars

Police said at a news conference that they were summoned to a Starbucks in the Montreal suburb at about 10.30am on Wednesday because of notifications of a violent incident inside the coffee shop. An individual was killed and two others were injured.

Deceased Individual

While authorities have not verified the deceased's identity, several news organizations have indicated the man murdered was a sentenced illegal substance distributor, forty, also known by an street name. The man was the head of a organization operating in the area.

Authority Comments

The province's security official commented: "Everything points to it being an event associated with organised crime."

The local police chief told reporters that while he could not comment on the case, he is familiar with the man killed due to his "criminal record". "The individual was associated with organised crime," he noted.

Criminal History

The targeted individual was first linked publicly to criminal activity in 2005 when law enforcement in Montreal apprehended him and multiple associates in a drug trafficking probe. He ultimately confessing on substance charges and was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

According to reports, the individual was detained for a subsequent occasion in 2009, again for narcotics distribution, and was subsequently given to another half-decade in prison.

Professional Assessment

A university expert said that criminal organizations in the area used to be characterised around exercising restraint over visible conflicts and counted on a defined leadership system.

An audacious midday assassination at a popular café suggests there may not be a dominant force keeping order – as conflict could impact activities when it comes to narcotics distribution, explained the expert.

Structural Collapse

The expert said it is conceivable that the group which attacked the gang leader simply "did not care" about the open demonstration of force in order to neutralize their target.

But the expert believes more probable is there has been a erosion of organization and authority within underworld activities in Montreal, connected with substantial detentions of the suspected leaders of Montreal's mafia made in June.

Leadership Arrests

After a 36-month probe, law enforcement took into custody an alleged organized crime boss and indicted him with killing and other related crimes.

Present Circumstances

The current arrests were viewed as the last "final straw" for the established organized crime, noted the analyst.

It has left a hole that newer criminal groups are striving to occupy. The recent shooting is an indication of an uncertain, changing situation, he said.

"There is kind of this plethora of small, not highly structured gangs ... that are fighting for dominance," he said.