Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 11/05) - Yellowknife RCMP have charged an Edmonton man with two counts of attempted murder after a drive-by shooting early Sunday morning.

Randon Ducharme, 19 of Edmonton, was arrested Nov. 6.

Ducharme is accused of shooting at two men getting into their vehicle outside the Raven Pub on 50th street at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. No-one was hurt in the shooting.

He appeared in court Thursday and was remanded in custody.

In addition to the attempted murder charges, Ducharme faces two counts of pointing a firearm, one count of possession of a weapon and possession of crack cocaine.

Witness descriptions led police to a suspect vehicle. They recovered one firearm in the vehicle and another nearby. As well, police found 113 grams of cocaine in the same area.

Police say they suspect the shooting is connected to an attempt by a group of Alberta drug dealers to take advantage of a hole in the drug market after a major bust on Oct. 13.

"We think they are trying to take over that little void that was created," said Sgt. Darcy Fleury.

More arrests are pending in connection to "Project Gunship."

In another drug case, two Yellowknife brothers were sentenced in Edmonton to stiff jail sentences recently.

Khanh Nguyen received a 10-year prison sentence for conspiracy to traffic cocaine and possession of cocaine.

His brother, Hoang Nguyen, received a 4.5-year sentence for trafficking marijuana.

"They were distributing them among street-level dealers (in the North)," said Const. Eric Irani.

Police said the convictions, which resulted from a joint effort between Yellowknife and Edmonton drug squads in 2003, are a message to the public.

"It is very significant in regards to letting the public know that the justice system is going to deal harshly with anybody who traffics in drugs," said Irani.