Police crack down on fentanyl
Marijuana, cocaine, diamonds, cash also seized in Yellowknife, Dettah and Ndilo
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Fentanyl, marijuana, cocaine and a substance believed to be heroin were seized as an RCMP federal investigations unit carried out six drug raids Monday.
A series of police drug raids carried out in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah on Monday resulted in the seizure of items shown here, including firearms, fentanyl pills, marijuana, cocaine and diamonds. - photo courtesy of RCMP |
"It's a significant seizure," said RCMP spokesperson Const. Elenore Sturko in a brief interview Tuesday, adding police were still going through what was seized to calculate total quantities.
Police arrested 14 people after carrying out the search warrants in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah.
They seized what is described as "a significant quantity of illicit drugs and cash," according to a news release from Sturko.
Charges were expected to be laid Tuesday afternoon, Sturko said, but no further information was available at press time. No names have been released so far.
The busts came at the end of what Sturko stated was a "lengthy investigation targeted the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs in Yellowknife and surrounding communities."
Approximately 1,000 fentanyl pills were seized. Fentanyl is an opioid about 100 times more powerful than morphine that has been linked to hundreds of overdose deaths across western Canada the past two years.
The drug has started to crop up in various busts in this city, including another significant discovery in April that yielded almost 600 pills. Another bust in September last year also found fentanyl pills.
Health officials and police have issued warnings about the drug over the past year, which in its illicit form can be deadly in even small amounts.
Monday's raids began with a vehicle en route to Yellowknife from B.C. that was stopped near Fort Providence where a man was arrested.
The searches at six separate sites in the three communities were then carried out Monday evening. The warrants were carried out concurrently to ensure they could make arrests at the same time.
More than 30 RCMP officers were involved in the operation, the news release states.
"In terms of the amount of people, it was a pretty co-ordinated effort," Sturko said.
Photos released by police show bags of marijuana stacked up along with eight rifles and two shotguns. Laptops, money counters and ammo are also shown in the photo. The news release stated "high-end" merchandise seized was believed to have been purchased with the profits of drug sales.
Sturko stated diamonds were also seized, although didn't say how many or put a value on them.
It's not the first time a search has yielded diamonds in the city. Yellowknifer previously reported a search of a Kam Lake home in October 2013 found $2,000 in diamonds.
Beyond the fentanyl, Sturko said police estimate 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, several kilograms of marijuana and a small amount of substance believed to be heroin were seized.
It was not clear by press time if those arrested have gang connections.
