Liquor, drugs seized on winter roads
Significant amount of liquor, beer, coolers and marijuana on Mackenzie Valley roads this month
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Monday, April 21 2014
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Police officers patrolling the Mackenzie Valley winter road system have been kept busy through the winter apprehending would-be bootleggers and drug traffickers.
In the first two weeks of April, RCMP officers confiscated more than 125 375 ml bottles of Smirnoff vodka, five 750 ml bottles of Smirnoff, nine 1.14 L bottles of Smirnoff, one 375 ml bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey, 28 355 ml coolers, 81 cans of beer, one 750 ml bottle of wine and more than 93 grams of marijuana.
"As soon as the winter road opens up, people now have easy access to the communities that are distributing the liquor," said RCMP spokesperson Barry Ledoux.
"Our officers are out there doing what they can and, with the assistance of the community members, we're able to make these types of liquor seizures.
"If you look at the overall amount that's been taken out of communities ... we prevent future crimes from being committed.
"We prevent assaults, domestic assaults, impaired driving, mischief, causing disturbances, drunkenness in a public place. By these types of seizures, we've prevented a lot of future crime."
On April 4, Norman Wells RCMP were patrolling the winter road between Norman Wells and Tulita when they stopped a vehicle - the occupants were found to be carrying more than 24 375 ml bottles of Smirnoff.
The following day, Deline RCMP receives numerous tips of people holding excess alcohol in the community. Thanks to those tips, officers located the suspected vehicle on the Deline ice road and seized two cases - or 24 375 ml bottles - of Smirnoff vodka, along with six cans of beer. A 19-year-old woman was charged under the Deline Liquor Restriction laws and is scheduled to appear in court June 4.
Also in Deline, police seized more than 43 grams of marijuana between April 10 and 11. No charges have been laid yet and the investigation is ongoing.
In Fort Good Hope, where regulations prohibit having more than 1.14 L of spirits and 12 355 ml containers of beer, or 1.14 L of spirits and 2 L of wine, within a seven-day period, residents called in several complaints to police April 11 regarding people returning from Norman Wells with more than their limit of alcohol.
Officers set up a check stop on the winter road throughout the night, and made a number of seizures that confiscated a total of 74 375 ml of vodka, nine 1.14 L bottles of Smirnoff vodka, three 750 ml bottles of Smirnoff vodka, one 750 ml bottle of wine, 28 coolers and 75 containers of beer.
Charges have yet to be laid and the investigation is continuing.
Finally, Whati police officers received an anonymous tip April 12 advising a half-ton truck may be selling alcohol in the community. Mounties located the suspected vehicle and found two 750 ml bottles of Smirnoff, three 375 ml bottles of Smirnoff and one 375 ml bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey. They also found 50 grams of marijuana along with "a multitude of drug paraphernalia" and cash.
Police have named two Behchoko residents in relation to this seizure. Nineteen-year-old Derreck Richardson and 20-year-old Courtney Wanazah are charged with possession of a controlled substance for purpose of trafficking and possessing liquor in a prohibited zone under the Whati liquor prohibition regulations. They are set to appear in territorial court on June 3.
Ledoux thanked those community members who contacted their local RCMP offices to report suspected bootleggers.
"We need to thank the community for standing up to take the initiative to stop this from happening," he said.
"It reassures our members that what they're doing is being supported by the community."
