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The brazen midday assassination of a influential Quebec gang leader inside a outlying Starbucks recently could signal a emerging, more chaotic and aggressive landscape when it comes to underworld activities, experts note.

Power Vacuum Emerging

The apprehensions of alleged high-ranking, older members of the local underworld in June has likely resulted in a chasm – meaning newer, junior gangs are attempting to establish themselves.

Shooting Incident Information

Authorities reported at a press briefing that they were summoned to a Starbucks in the Montreal suburb at about 10.30am on Wednesday because of alerts of a shooting inside the café. A single individual was fatally shot and two others were hurt.

Deceased Individual

While investigators have not verified the deceased's identity, multiple news organizations have said the man murdered was a convicted illegal substance distributor, 40, also known by an alias. The man was the chief of a criminal group operating in the area.

Official Statements

The Quebec's public security minister said: "All evidence points to it being an event linked to underworld activities."

The local police chief informed reporters that while he could not comment on the ongoing probe, he recognizes the man deceased due to his "notoriety". "The individual was associated with underworld activities," he noted.

Past Record

The targeted individual was first connected officially to criminal activity in 2005 when authorities in Montreal apprehended him and multiple associates in a drug trafficking investigation. He eventually admitting responsibility on drug-related charges and was given to two years in prison.

According to reports, the man was arrested for a subsequent occasion in over a decade ago, again for narcotics distribution, and was later handed to another five years in prison.

Professional Assessment

A criminology professor said that criminal organizations in the area used to be marked around maintaining control over public violence and depended on a established chain of command.

An bold public killing at a coffee shop chain suggests there may not be a controlling entity maintaining control – as conflict could affect business when it comes to illegal substance trade, said the specialist.

Control Loss

The analyst suggested it is plausible that the organization which attacked the criminal boss simply "did not care" about the visible exhibition of aggression in order to neutralize their quarry.

But the expert believes more likely is there has been a erosion of structure and dominance within organised crime in Montreal, associated with major apprehensions of the purported leaders of the city's organized crime made in June.

Key Detentions

After a multi-year probe, authorities detained an alleged criminal organization head and accused him with first-degree murder and other connected charges.

Current Situation

The latest arrests were considered as the last "final straw" for the long-standing underworld hierarchy, said the specialist.

It has created a vacuum that younger criminal groups are attempting to fill. The Wednesday's violence is an indication of an uncertain, evolving situation, he said.

"There is kind of this multitude of lesser, not extremely coordinated gangs ... that are competing for dominance," he remarked.