Police intercept marijuana headed to Deline
Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 04/01) - Federal politicians embroiled in decriminalization debates may have recently discovered marijuana's merits as a political issue, but it would appear to have other uses in the NWT.
RCMP in Tulita arrested a 25-year-old Yellowknife woman May 29 following the seizure of an estimated $5,000 worth of marijuana cigarettes (joints) at the hamlet's airport.
Const. Christine Grant, one of the officers in the RCMP's Tulita detachment, said the marijuana was discovered in luggage that the woman was bringing aboard a plane.
Acting on a tip from the RCMP in Deline, Grant and detachment commander Cpl. Don Halina stopped the suspect at Tulita airport as she was about to board a plane.
The woman was en route to Deline.
Police found 245 joints and an undisclosed amount of loose marijuana.
Staff Sgt. Phil Johnson, RCMP head of community policing, based in Yellowknife, said that it is common for people who bring marijuana into small communities to "gram it up" into individual joints to maximize their profits.
By doing so, Johnson said, it is possible to sell by the joint at a rate of around $25 each.
The woman has been charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The suspect has been released on a promise to appear and an undertaking, and remains in Tulita.
She is scheduled to make a court appearance on June 15.
