Yellowknife (Dec 24/03) - Roughly a dozen RCMP officers and liquor inspectors set up checkstops and handed out tickets, Friday night, in an effort to crack down on holiday binge drinking.

Officers arrested two people -- one for impaired driving and another for causing a disturbance -- while doling tickets for a variety of alcohol-related offenses.

"We want to (eliminate the perception) that anything goes downtown," said RCMP Insp. Paul Richards.

The sweep, nicknamed Operation Argos, was designed to curtail drinking, which is typically at it's highest during the holiday season, say police.

"We want to make sure the city is safe and everyone enjoys their holidays," said Richards.

Police set up a checkstop on Friday night, stopping roughly 20 cars in an effort to catch drunk drivers.

They also handed out tickets for a wide range of Liquor Act violations including public intoxication and supplying alcohol to minors.

Most of those tickets came outside of the downtown liquor store, an area police were targeting, said Richards.

"We know there are people who buy alcohol for minors and that's one thing we wanted to concentrate on."

The liquor store was also given a ticket for selling to an intoxicated person.

Police decided to go ahead with the sweep -- similar in purpose to October's Operation Hydra, but smaller in scope -- after receiving feedback from the public, said Richards.

"We were listening to the community, which was asking for more street-level enforcement."