Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 21/05) - Seven kilograms of cocaine and two kilograms of marijuana were seized during Project Gunship, RCMP revealed Wednesday.

The drugs and other property seized during Oct. 13 raids were on display at a press conference.

The amount of cocaine confiscated was enough to give a third of the population of Yellowknife a gram, the commonly sold unit, said Const. Erik Irani, an RCMP drug awareness co-ordinator. He estimated it is also enough to keep 117 heavy users supplied for over a month.

Cocaine was found in powder and crack form. The powder was pure cocaine broken off a brick, said Irani.

Crack was packaged into "spitballs." These are approximately one gram amounts tied in the corners of plastic bags and ready for street sale.

According to police, the marijuana is enough for 6,000 joints.

"If you are working in the drug trade, you need to understand that it is our intention to come after you," said Insp. Jim Cunningham. In addition to a new street-level drug enforcement team, a police service dog, whose skills include drug detection, is expected to arrive soon as a permanent addition to the "G" division, he said.

Two shotguns, two handguns, ammunition and cash were also seized.

Members of city council were told during a meeting with police on Monday that $100,000 in $5, $10 and $20 denominations and a $16,000 piano were among the items seized.

If the assets are judged to be the proceeds of crime they will be disposed of and the revenues will be used by the territorial government to support policing activities, police said. On Oct. 13, the Right Spot, The Diner, Johnson's Building Supplies, and four homes were raided. Cunningham said he couldn't supply details of where the items were found.

The undercover police operation took 18 months to plan and involved more than 50 police officers.

- With files from Dorothy Westerman