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Crime

Breaking Bad Sized Seizure – ALERT and Edmonton Police Service take over 1.3 million in meth off the street

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From ALERT – The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team

Major Meth Seizure Made in Edmonton

Nearly 14 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized from an Edmonton home as part of an ALERT drug trafficking investigation. The drugs have an estimated street value of $1.35 million.

ALERT Edmonton’s organized crime and gang team made the seizure on December 30, 2020, after four Edmonton homes were searched. The Edmonton Police Service helped execute search warrants at homes in the Summerside, Oliver, Strathcona, and Rosenthal neighbourhoods.

Inside one of the homes, ALERT seized 13.77 kilograms of methamphetamine, which is a significant amount of drugs prevented from making their way into the community. This would equate to more than 45,000 doses when sold at street level.

“This amount of meth represents a high degree of community harm. The influx of cartel-connected meth into our province has fueled violence, ancillary property crimes, and poses serious health concerns. ALERT has prioritized these types of investigations and we are committed to disrupting the meth trade,” said Supt. Dwayne Lakusta, ALERT CEO.

Since 2015, ALERT has seized approximately 110 kilograms of meth from across the province.

“In this case, our investigators believe we hit the distribution point and stopped a lot of drugs from making their way to Edmonton and outlying areas,” said Insp. Kevin Berge, ALERT Edmonton.

In addition to the methamphetamine, ALERT also seized:

  • 119.85 grams of cocaine;
  • 112.2 grams of MDMA;
  • 4.3 grams of suspected fentanyl;
  • 63 grams of cannabis resin;
  • 19 grams of psilocybin mushrooms;
  • 40 Oxycontin tablets; and
  • $8,850 cash.

The four-month investigation came as the result of a tip concerning drug trafficking activity.

ALERT’s investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.

Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.

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Addictions

British Columbia should allow addicts to possess even more drugs, federal report suggests

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Despite the drug crisis only getting worse in British Columbia after decriminalization, a federal report by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research advocates for further relaxing its policy so addicts can possess even more drugs.

Despite the drug crisis only worsening since decriminalization, federal researchers are now advocating for British Columbia to allow the possession of even larger quantities of cocaine, claiming that current possession limits don’t allow addicts to buy enough.

According to a federal report published April 23 by Blacklock’s Reporter, the current decriminalization program in British Columbia approved by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has set cocaine possession limits “too low.”

“People who use drugs are less concerned about being arrested and feel more comfortable carrying substances they need,” said the report by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. “The threshold of 2.5 grams is too low and is unreflective of users’ substance use and purchasing patterns.” 

Under the policy, which launched in early 2023, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs – including cocaine, opioids, ecstasy and methamphetamine – without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime.   

The policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect.   

However, now researchers are claiming that the new policy is insufficient for drug users.   

“People who use drugs indicated the 2.5 gram threshold is too low and unreflective of their substance use patterns,” the report stated. “Although some people indicated the policy wouldn’t impact their purchasing patterns because they are unable to purchase large amounts at a time, others suggested it may force them to seek out substances more frequently which could increase their risk of harms.”  

“Buying in bulk may be more economical particularly for people who use drugs,” it continued, adding that it was “common practice to purchase in bulk and split or share among peers.”  

The recommendation comes as deaths from drug overdoses in Canada have gone through the roof in recent years, particularly in British Columbia.  

Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”   

“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”   

Similarly, even Liberals have begun to condemn Trudeau’s “safe supply” program, linking them to “chaos” in cities.  

Safe supply“ is the term used to refer to government-prescribed drugs that are given to addicts under the assumption that a more controlled batch of narcotics reduces the risk of overdose – critics of the policy argue that giving addicts drugs only enables their behavior, puts the public at risk, disincentivizes recovery from addiction and has not reduced, and sometimes even increased, overdose deaths where implemented.    

Last week, Liberal MP Dr. Marcus Powlowski revealed that violence from drug users has become a problem in Ottawa, especially in areas near so-called “safe supply” drug sites which operate within blocks of Parliament Hill.    

“A few months ago I was downtown in a bar here in Ottawa, not that I do that very often, but a couple of colleagues I met up with, one was assaulted as he was going to the bar, another one was threatened,” said Powlowski.   

“Within a month of that I was returning down Wellington Street from downtown, the Rideau Centre, and my son who is 15 was coming after me,” he continued. “It was nighttime and there was someone out in the middle of the street, yelling and screaming, accosting cars.”  

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Crime

Canadian receives one-year jail sentence, lifetime firearms ban for setting church on fire

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Jordan Willet was convicted of starting a blaze in February at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Regina, Saskatchewan.

A man who was charged with arson after trying to burn down a historic Catholic church earlier this year was handed only a one-year jail sentence for his crime but has also been banned from being able to possess firearms for life.

On April 9, a court sentenced Jordan Willet, 31, to 278 days in jail for intentionally or recklessly causing damage by fire or explosion to property and for not complying with a probation order. In February, LifeSiteNews reported that Willet had been arrested and charged with starting a fire at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Regina, Saskatchewan, on February 9.

He pleaded guilty to both charges and also received an 18-month probation sentence along with a lifetime firearm prohibition.

Over the weekend, Fr. James Hentges, the parish pastor, said he was “relieved he is in custody and is not a threat.”

The parish had posted footage of the February 9 attack on social media and put out a plea for anyone who had information on the event to report it to police.

The video footage of the attack, taken from a doorbell camera, shows Willet, in a mask, pouring fuel on the church before setting it on fire.

Fire investigators determined that the blaze was caused by a direct act of arson.

Since the spring of 2021, more than 100 churches, most of them Catholic, have been burned or vandalized across Canada. The attacks on the churches came shortly after the unconfirmed discovery of “unmarked graves” at now-closed residential schools once run by the Church in parts of the country.

In 2021 and 2022, the mainstream media ran with inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran some of the schools.

The claims, which were promoted by Trudeau among others, lack any physical evidence and were based solely on soil disturbances found via ground-penetrating radar.

In fact, in August 2023, one such site underwent a four-week excavation and yielded no remains.

Despite the lack of evidence, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and others have continued to push the narrative, even running a report recently that appeared to justify the dozens of attacks against Catholic churches.

In January, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre not only condemned the rash of church burnings in Canada but called out Trudeau for being silent on the matter.

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