Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

INUVIK - After searching Fast Food Cafe on Friday, RCMP seized drugs, cash and stolen goods.

The restaurant had been under RCMP investigation for the past few months under the suspicion of trafficking crack cocaine.

Inuvik RCMP officers stand outside Fast Food Cafe during a search for drugs that took place on Friday afternoon. An undisclosed amount of crack cocaine, cash and stolen goods were found on the premises. - Dez Loreen/NNSL photo

Inuvik RCMP Staff Sgt. Bill Eubank said the seizure from the restaurant validates the search warrant, because the police found an undisclosed amount of crack cocaine.

"We haven't catalogued it yet, because we have been busy with a search operation," said Eubank on Monday afternoon.

Suspect Talal El Khatib was taken into custody during the raid on Friday afternoon.

As of press time, Khatib was still in custody.

Charges of possession with the intent of trafficking and possession of stolen property are pending against Khatib.

Eubank said there are still charges pending further investigation.

The search was started at roughly 2 p.m. and ended the next afternoon.

"We finished pretty late on Saturday, I'd say the search was about 36 hours long," said Eubank.

In the search, police found a large amount of stolen property, which includes personal electronics and power tools.

"We also seized $3,000 in cash from the premises," said Eubank.

He said the search was done by 10 officers who were from the Inuvik detachment along with the assistance of the police dog unit out of Yellowknife.

In a press release, the RCMP thanked the community for their valuable input, which led to the search warrant.

"We had heard a lot of the rumours and stories going on about this place, but we can't take action on those," said Eubank.

It was due to the help of concerned citizens who supplied the RCMP with enough evidence and testimony that they were able to obtain a search warrant.

"We've been receiving information over the past several months," said Eubank.

Recently a larger number of calls were coming in, to identify the restaurant as a source for crack.

"The calls were flooding in this month," he said.

During the raid, people crowded across the street, eager to see what would be pulled out of the restaurant. Eubank said the community support outside the yellow tape was pleasing.

"We had a lot of supporters out to honk their horns or clap their hands," said Eubank.

"We saw a lot of thumbs up for sure."

John Ozolinsh has been a resident of Inuvik for the past 25 years.

He also often works nights as a taxi dispatcher.

Ozolinsh said he has known about the crack dealing at the restaurant for some time, because of the openness of the addicts who use the cab services.

"They would often just out and out say they were going to Fast Food to buy crack," he said.

Ozolinsh said he got to the scene of the bust shortly after it happened.

"The vehicles were already here and the man was already taken into custody," he said.

For Ozolinsh and others who were at the scene cheering, this was a happy day.

"I'm euphoric, this is one of the best days I've seen here," he said.

"Things are moving forward, I never thought a day like this would arise."

RCMP said they would provide more information on the incident once they had compiled the evidence found at the scene.