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Pot smoker greeted by SWAT-like team

Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 19/06) - A 20-year-old woman smoking marijuana in a downtown apartment last February may have had her worst nightmare realized when an elite police squad burst into the suite.

The woman had a one-gram baggie of marijuana with her and she was subsequently charged.

She appeared in territorial court Tuesday.

Police were executing a search warrant when they arrested the woman and friend at the Fraser Tower Suite Hotel. They also found drugs, weapons and drug gear, Crown attorney Mike Himmelman said Tuesday, after the woman pleaded guilty to possession of a narcotic.

The woman, who had no previous criminal record, was in the wrong place at the wrong time, her lawyer told the court.

"Be more careful when you choose your place and your crowd," said Judge Brian Bruser, who fined the woman $150. "Or you'll go down with them."

The woman was laying on a mattress beside her stash when the Emergency Response Team, acting on a tip, raided the apartment. The police had information that other people in the suite were involved in the drug trade, Himmelman said.