$17,000 cash stolen from Panniqtuuq Co-op

Brent Reaney
Northern News Services

Panniqtuuq (Oct 04/04) - Somebody is sitting on a pile of cash after a Sept. 24 break-in at the Co-op. RCMP suspect it may be related to at least one other break-in.

About $17,000 in cash, a Sonaki camera, some wristwatches, a large quantity of pre-paid long distance telephone cards and cigarettes estimated to be worth $3,000 were stolen from the Co-op. Wires to the store's alarm system are believed to have been cut to allow undetected access to the store after hours, said Panniqtuuq RCMP Const. Chris Smith.

The Co-op's back service entrance was damaged during the robbery.

In what police believe to be a related incident, some tools were stolen from the Nunavut Power Corp. office earlier in September.

"We're still investigating and trying to develop some concrete leads," said Smith.

Police are not aware of any further break-ins since the Sept. 24 incident.

Anyone with information pertaining to the robberies is asked to contact the Panniqtuuq RCMP.