Crime
Yesterday my sister was brutally assaulted by two women

This is posted with permission from Nicole Safron. Her sister survived a terrifying experience at their home near Sylvan Lake this week.
Following Nicole’s post is the RCMP report to the media on the alleged crime(s)
Yesterday my sister was brutally assaulted by two women
These women had been dropped off in front of her garage with a blue bag by a green ford truck. My sister who was upstairs in her home with her daughter and newborn baby looked out the window to see the girls jump out of the vehicle and the truck take off through her fence across the canola field.
She immediately called her husband and then a neighbor who is about a mile and a half away who could be there as soon as possible. JUST a week prior to this, a man walked into her home in broad daylight asking where Evergreen hall was, and later arrested (and is known to police) so she was taking it seriously. She got off the phone with her husband who called 911 for her at 8:44 am to dispatch police to her. She then activated her alarm system which has a loud outdoor siren to hopefully scare them away. The pair fled on foot towards the road. My sister, left her kids upstairs in the house (thankfully) locked the house and followed the girls to the end of the driveway in her car, while on the phone with my dad, to ensure she knew where the girls were. The neighbor got there at the same time and the girls were laying in the grass with the blue bag.
Meanwhile the green truck was speeding across the fields towards my other sisters home going through the fences. So the neighbor decided it would be good to make sure she was ok as well. She was still on the phone with my dad in her SUV when the girls attacked her punching her in the face and ripping her out of her vehicle. with my dad helpless on the other line.
The girls were kicking and punching her and telling her they were going to shoot her in the face. My sister was pleading for her life telling them she has a newborn baby and children and to take her car. My sister was fighting for her life in a ditch in rural Alberta wile my dad listened on the phone knowing anything could happen to his daughter.
The girls then got into my sisters vehicle and tore off towards highway 11, erratically driving down the wrong side of the highway at 160 km/hr + into oncoming traffic.
Meanwhile the truck that had crashed through the fences had caught fire behind my other sisters home after driving about 3/4 of a mile through fences and crop. The men in the truck had fled on foot. One of them stealing a vehicle from the neighbors down the road.
It was not until aprox 9:37am when the first police showed up out there.
My sister who was attacked did not see an officer until after 10:00am.
The reason I am writing this out in detail is to bring awareness to the crisis that we are facing in central Alberta with crime and drug related issues and thefts. Rurally it takes oficers time to get to victims. There are no other houses and rarely are others home. It is a hopeless feeling and people are scared to be home.
This is beyond petty theft. This is peoples lives and families at risk. You better believe what both my sister and my dad experienced yesterday will stick with them for years to come.
There is a meeting on Thursday November 7th from 6pm to 8pm in Rocky mountain house at the Lou Soppit centre with Doug Schweitzer, the minister of justice. I would encourage anyone who can to attend, in addition to writing a letter to your MLA. Honorable Jason Nixon has been outstanding with this situation contacting the family shortly after the events to discuss.
Lets send him the tools he needs to make a change. We need these drug houses wiped out. In ALL of ALBERTA. Central and rural Alberta is getting scary. These people need to be locked up. Both of these women had been arrested before and are known to police. They get released in a few days and have nothing to loose. I feel sorry for our police forces when they try and help us and the criminals are released within days!
They are dangerous.
I know I am speculating / putting the puzzle pieces together, however, those women had the intent of an armed robbery at my sisters home that morning. Armed and planned. Perhaps another vehicle would come and pick them up or they would meet the ford in the field.
But what I do know is that I am thankful Jolene was able to keep them away from her home, and her children did not have to witness anything.
You better believe they would have got into her home in the hour it took police to arrive. Or that our neighbor or my father would be in the wrong for trying to protect her.
And it may have been a different story entirely.
- Truck left by intruders
- Fence ruined as intruders excaped
- Guns recovered by police
From Sylvan Lake RCMP:
The RCMP have laid charges against two females following several incidents that began with a complaint of suspicious females in Sylvan Lake and finished with a collision in Red Deer.
On October 23 at 8:48 a.m., Sylvan Lake RCMP responded to a rural complaint, that two females, believed to be intoxicated, were in a ditch. They were allegedly dropped off by a male driving a truck and that truck had driven through a fence. Property representatives in the area were taking steps to identify and detain the females. The truck, later identified as a 1997 Ford F150, was abandoned in a nearby field, on fire. Eckville Fire department attended and assisted with extinguishing the vehicle fire.
Sylvan Lake RCMP received a further update that one female property representative had been assaulted and had her vehicle, a Dodge Durango, stolen. RCMP Police dog services, Rocky Mountain House RCMP, and RCMP air services were deployed to the location to assist.
A short time later the Dodge Durango was observed travelling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Highway 11. The vehicle entered Red Deer. (see background media release).
Sylvan Lake RCMP later recovered the Ford F150, which had been stolen out of the Rocky Mountain house area. Two prohibited firearms were located, abandoned, in the area.
A second vehicle, a 2007 grey Chevrolet Silverado was stolen from a nearby residence and remains outstanding. The RCMP believe that the male who dropped off the suspect females stole the Silverado from an area property.
Sylvan Lake RCMP have charged Chelsea Crowley (27) and Brianna Crookedlegs (20) with the following offences:
– 2 counts of Possession of a Prohibited Weapon
– 2 counts of Possession of a weapon for a Dangerous Purpose
– 2 counts of Possession of Weapon without holding a licence
– 2 counts of Possession of a Prohibited or Restricted Firearm
– 1 count of Robbery
Crowley faces an additional five counts of Breach of Recognizance. Both females are scheduled for a Judicial Interim Release hearing on October 28.
Investigation into the circumstances of the recovered Ford F150 and the theft of the 2007 grey Chevrolet Silverado continues. The Silverado is described as grey, with black rims, a small push bar on the front and small dents.
If you have any information about these incidents, or information on the location of the stolen Chevrolet Silverado please contact the Sylvan Lake RCMP at 403-858-7200. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.
Crime
Mexican Cartels smuggling crude oil in Texas, Southwest border

From The Center Square
By
The U.S. Treasury Department is cracking down on Mexican cartel crude oil smuggling in Texas and along the southwest border.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday (OFAC) sanctioned multiple Mexican nationals and Mexico-based entities involved in a drug trafficking and fuel theft network connected to the Mexican cartel, Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
In February, the Trump administration designated CJNG and other Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Crude oil smuggling, “huachicol,” is interconnected with “a slew of criminal activities, including fentanyl trafficking,” and a range of violent crimes. It’s considered “the most significant non-drug revenue source for Mexican cartels and other illicit actors,” OFAC said. The thieves, “huachicoleros,” use a variety of means to steal fuel and crude oil from Mexico’s state-owned energy company, Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), including bribing and threatening Pemex employees, illegally drilling taps into pipelines, stealing from refineries and hijacking tanker trucks.
Their operations are facilitating “rampant violence and corruption across Mexico, and undercutting legitimate oil and natural gas companies in the United States,” OFAC states.
Stolen fuel is sold on the black market in Mexico and Central America through unregulated roadside fuel stops and cartel-controlled gas stations.
It’s also smuggled into the U.S. by brokers who label it as “waste oil” or hazardous material to evade detection. Stolen crude oil is then sold and shipped to oil and natural gas companies and refineries in Texas and nationwide, as well as to Japan, India, Africa and other countries, investigators found. It’s sold at a significant discount and the illicit proceeds are sent back to the FTOs and SDGTs.
According to law enforcement estimates, the U.S.-based importers earn roughly $5 million for each oil tanker shipment of crude oil to foreign jurisdictions, with multiple tankers leaving Texas ports every month. Most purchasing the shipments are likely unaware they’ve been stolen, OFAC states.
Those sanctioned this week include CJNG leader Mexican national Cesar Morfin Morfin (a.k.a. Primito) of Tamaulipas, for his alleged role in transporting, importing and distributing narcotics, including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, and fentanyl and methamphetamine precursor chemicals sourced from China into the U.S.
Primito’s older brother, Alvaro Noe Morfin, was also sanctioned for his alleged role in CJNG narcotics trafficking. Both Primito brothers are on a 10 Most Wanted list in Texas and Tamaulipas, published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican government.
Their younger brother, Remigio Morfin, was also sanctioned for alleged drug trafficking, operating out of Hidalgo, Mexico.
Mexican national Cesar Morfin was also sanctioned for his role in CJNG drug trafficking, as were two of his family members and business associates, who are linked to CJNG fuel theft, OFAC said. However, he’s allegedly now focused primarily on stealing crude oil, OFAC said.
As Trump administration border security efforts shut down illegal entries, Primito’s network refocused their efforts to smuggle crude oil into the U.S., OFAC said. “Given his control over port of entry bridges between the Tamaulipas and Texas border regions, Primito also charges fees to any trucks moving crude into the United States via these routes.” He and his subordinates also allegedly falsify official customs documents to facilitate cross-border smuggling of stolen crude oil, investigators allege.
In addition to the sanctions, OFAC and several federal agencies issued an alert to U.S. financial institutions urging them to vigilantly detect, identify and report suspicious activity that might be connected to stolen crude oil smuggled by FTOs and SDGTs.
“In recent years, fuel theft in Mexico, including crude oil smuggling, has become the most significant non-drug illicit revenue source for the Cartels and enables them to sustain their global criminal enterprises and drug trafficking operations into the United States,” the alert states.
The alert provides an overview of methodologies and financial typologies associated with cartel crude oil smuggling, includes red flag indicators and reminds financial institutions of Bank Secrecy Act reporting requirements.
Since the Trump administration designated Mexican cartels and transnational criminal organizations as FTOs and SDGTs in February, the Treasury Department has sanctioned 11 individuals and six entities affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, and the Beltran Leyva Organization.
Last September, OFAC also sanctioned nine Mexican nationals and 26 Mexico-based entities linked to CJNG fuel theft activities, including senior CJNG member Ivan Cazarin Molina (a.k.a. El Tanque).
Crime
Canada Blocked DEA Request to Investigate Massive Toronto Carfentanil Seizure for Terror Links

Exclusive investigation shows U.S. drug officials were stonewalled after linking a historic Toronto opioid seizure to suspected Pakistani and Chinese threat networks
A former top U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official has come forward with explosive allegations that Canadian authorities obstructed a high-level DEA investigation into a 42-kilogram carfentanil seizure tied to a 2018 mass shooting in Toronto and, according to senior U.S. investigators, potentially linked to Pakistani threat networks and Chinese chemical precursor suppliers.
The DEA learned, after 29-year-old Faisal Hussain’s shooting rampage on Danforth Avenue—which left two people dead and thirteen more wounded—that his brother and a network with Pakistani links were connected to a historic seizure of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than fentanyl, in September 2017. The drugs were discovered in a suburban Pickering home, alongside specialized equipment consistent with a transnational trafficking operation.
While ISIS’s claim of responsibility for Hussain’s attack initially raised concerns about terrorism, Canadian officials and Toronto police advanced a narrative that the tragedy had no national security implications, attributing it instead to the hardships of a Pakistani immigrant family and a mental health crisis. But the DEA’s elite Special Operations Division—drawing on global informant and intelligence networks—did not fully accept the conclusions of Canada’s investigation or its public disclosures.
The DEA had requested to test the seized carfentanil to determine whether its molecular structure matched opioids trafficked into Atlanta from Quebec, said Donald Im, the DEA’s former Special Operations Division lead on precursor chemicals, dark web drug markets, and narco-terrorism, in an exclusive interview with The Bureau.
Although mid-level RCMP officers were reportedly willing to share the seizure materials and investigative details with the DEA, Im said those efforts were blocked by senior Canadian bureaucrats.
“I coordinated with our DEA office up there in Ottawa, and he was getting the runaround as well,” Im said. “I’m saying, if you guys had some 30 or 40-odd kilograms, and you couldn’t give us a few grams to determine whether or not there were any similar seizures in the United States? And they wouldn’t give it to us.”
Im said that before retiring in 2022, he couldn’t let the case go, and attempted—through the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies—to pressure Canadian authorities to release a sample. Those efforts also failed.
The DEA viewed the Toronto seizure as a potential inbound threat to Americans on multiple levels. According to DEA estimates, as little as 20 micrograms of carfentanil can be fatal to humans. At that potency, one kilogram of carfentanil could yield well over 10 million lethal doses. The 42 kilograms of confirmed carfentanil seized from the Pickering home—linked to Pakistani crime networks—could, in theory, be potent enough to deliver lethal doses to the entire populations of Canada and the United States.
“I could see the frustration in the RCMP guy’s face,” Im said, referring to the Canadian official he directly asked to share samples from the Pickering seizure. “I mean, there was this one guy—he was really good and he did everything he could to get us some stuff, but no—headquarters would not let him release anything,” Im recalled. “And I was told by RCMP officials—not just once, but on a number of occasions—they are frustrated at their headquarters.”
The Bureau confirmed with a current senior U.S. official, with knowledge of discussions involving Public Safety Canada and senior RCMP leaders, that American investigators have allegedly been repeatedly stonewalled on requests for information from the RCMP on fentanyl investigations, so-called ‘superlabs,’ and cross-province distribution networks in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec—cases in which DEA intelligence reportedly led to Canadian investigations.
Senior U.S. officials with direct knowledge of precursor tracking said the chemical compounds, dyes, and containment gear found at the scene in Pickering almost certainly originated in China, where state-tolerated chemical firms supply global narco-networks.
In a lengthy interview, Im—who has testified before Congress on Beijing’s role in global narcotics trafficking and traced fentanyl networks back to Chinese Communist Party officials—said the Toronto carfentanil case and its link to the Danforth shooting expose a growing national security blind spot in Canada, with direct implications for the United States.
He placed the 2017 seizure at the center of escalating U.S. concerns about Canada’s role in the fentanyl supply chain, declining enforcement standards, and Ottawa’s political resistance to RCMP cooperation with American law enforcement.
To date, most Canadian media have largely portrayed the shooter and his family as victims of personal tragedy. Faisal Hussain, the 29-year-old gunman, was said to have suffered from psychosis after his brother’s drug overdose left him in a vegetative state. In September 2017—while Fahad Hussain was in a coma—fire crews responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at the Pickering home and alerted police to a suspicious substance in the basement. Durham Regional Police executed a search warrant, uncovering 33 illegal overcapacity firearms magazines and 53 kilograms of seized material—including 42 kilograms of confirmed carfentanil—the largest known seizure of the drug in Canadian history.
The home’s owner, Pakistani immigrant Maisum Ansari, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for possession of 33 firearms and 26 kilograms of carfentanil for the purpose of trafficking. He was released on bail in September 2023 pending appeal. The ruling that freed Ansari stated: “The Crown’s theory at trial was that the appellant was not necessarily the mastermind behind the criminal enterprise, but he was a ‘necessary cog in a larger operation.’”
Speaking about the Faisal Hussain shooting case, Liberal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale publicly stated there was “no national security connection between this individual and any other national security issue.”
ISIS claimed responsibility for the Danforth shooting through its AMAQ news agency, describing Hussain as “a soldier of the Islamic State.” Canadian law enforcement dismissed the claim, and then–Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said no evidence supported it. But Im said the DEA remained concerned.
“Not only did we assume there were links to China, but then we found links back to Pakistan. And I can’t disclose exactly what, but it’s bad,” Im said. “And we were thinking: is this going to be a potential terrorist act? This is where we believed the RCMP didn’t want anything like that to be disclosed—that there was a potential ISIS sympathizer attempting to use carfentanil as a weapon of mass destruction, as opposed to just killing somebody with a pistol.”
In wide-ranging answers that will inform a forthcoming series from The Bureau on Canada’s role in China’s global fentanyl supply networks, Im reiterated that certain details remain classified. However, he said The Bureau’s reporting has already touched on many of the key issues that senior U.S. officials believe the North American public must understand—especially regarding the intersection of narcotics, national security, and foreign interference from hostile states.
Asked to elaborate on the DEA’s view of the Hussain case and its links to Pakistan, Im said:
“Terror networks. It was indirect links, but we needed to follow through with it. We found links to him—and then back to Pakistan.”
Pressing the point, The Bureau asked: “You’re saying what you can share is limited, but there was something that concerned you there in Pakistan?”
“Yes, indirectly, and I won’t say anything further,” Im responded.
Despite escalating efforts through intelligence and defense channels, Im said Canada remained uncooperative.
“We were asking: How does a Pakistani Canadian have all this amount of carfentanil? And it was a staggering amount,” Im said.
What also went unreported, Im noted, was that the brother had overdosed after handling a large quantity of carfentanil—alongside food dyes and chemical-handling gear that suggested commercial production or distribution.
The DEA believed the setup bore the hallmarks of mass trafficking operations or, in a more alarming scenario, possible preparation for a terror-related attack.
“The local police gave us photos and we found food dye coloring. And we were like, what is he doing with this? We think he was trying to market the product to youth with different color variants, but he wasn’t able to do it.”
“So that’s why we were trying to, one, trace the source of the carfentanil and the chemicals, the food dye coloring. And then, was he communicating with anyone in the name of ISIS?”
“But who actually supplied it to him, and how did he get it? It’s got to come from China. But the RCMP wouldn’t give us anything. We couldn’t even get samples to analyze. This was one of my key priorities in 2018 and 2019. They wouldn’t give it to our lab. We just needed a small amount to determine the molecular structure—whether we could trace it or link it to seizures in the States.”
Im also tied the DEA’s blocked Danforth probe to broader concerns about carfentanil exports from Canada. “DEA Georgia, Atlanta had been investigating carfentanil overdoses, and guess who the supplier was? A Canadian named Arden McCann. He had been selling carfentanil through the dark web, and we were wondering—the Mexicans aren’t selling carfentanil, but we’re seeing it coming out of Canada,” Im said.
A current senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of bilateral tensions confirmed that many of Im’s concerns reflect long-standing frustrations. The official said American authorities believe Canada has consistently downplayed cartel infiltration—an issue that escalated after the Trudeau government lifted visa requirements for Mexican nationals.
The official also pointed to Canada’s expanding role in the poly-drug trade—dominated by Chinese organized crime—including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and illicit cannabis. Since the 2018 legalization of recreational marijuana, Canadian supply chains that appear “legal” on paper have increasingly fueled the U.S. black market, the official said.
Once across the border, those shipments merge with synthetic drug flows fueled by Chinese precursors. The resulting profits are laundered through vast trade-based networks controlled by Chinese organized crime groups. These networks operate in tandem with underground banking systems in the Middle East and move money for Latin American cartels, Italian mafias, and other transnational syndicates.
Tensions between the RCMP and U.S. agencies have deepened in recent years. One emblematic episode, according to a U.S. source, came when the Canada Border Services Agency publicly acknowledged that Canada was a fentanyl exporter. The RCMP contradicted the statement, and the admission was quietly withdrawn. “We’re just saying, give us something honest to work with,” a U.S. official said.
As of 2025, the mistrust remains unresolved. The official pointed to recent RCMP claims that none of the fentanyl seized in a series of Vancouver-area lab busts was destined for the United States. “We asked how they knew that,” the official said. “They won’t share the evidence.”
It’s the same pattern Washington has grown increasingly frustrated with—mirroring what Don Im described facing during the carfentanil investigation. In fact, intelligence on fentanyl labs has largely flowed in one direction: from the DEA to Canadian authorities.
Im emphasized that frontline RCMP officers are not to blame. “They’re more than capable,” he said. “But they are politically hamstrung in their ability to share and coordinate. That’s coming from headquarters.”
Looking ahead, Im warned that Canada’s continued resistance to serious fentanyl cooperation could carry long-term economic consequences. “If Mark Carney wants to stay in power, this is where Trump can come in and say: start coordinating with us on the Chinese—or the tariffs stay,” he said.
Im, who has testified before Congress on China’s role in the fentanyl crisis and helped write the groundbreaking 2024 Congressional report on the CCP’s involvement in supporting and subsidizing precursor chemicals, said endemic corruption in China’s provinces has allowed chemical producers to flood North America with precursors. The report found fentanyl being produced in some Chinese prisons, and some CCP officials holding so-called “golden shares” in precursor companies. He identified Canada as a critical conduit in that global system—serving both as a staging ground for drug production and a platform for laundering the proceeds.
“There is insufficient cooperation from Canada on fentanyl, Chinese organized crime, and money laundering with the United States,” Im said.
Im said he is speaking boldly now because lives are being lost across North America, and the political and judicial response so far has been woefully inadequate—in the United States, but especially so in Canada.
“I see it on the global scale here, including the United States, and it’s frustrating because now we’re slowly seeing U.S. government officials discussing Canada. And I’ve been saying all along that there’s an extensive amount of fentanyl and carfentanil that have been coming from Canada for years. And just because there’s only been a few seized does not mean that there’s not a significant amount,” he said.
“And I’ve worked with the RCMP for years, and they’re great until they’re influenced by the Chinese. It was just overwhelming. And we just couldn’t get anything out of RCMP anymore because their headquarters were restricted in providing what we needed. So I mean, they’d give us low-hanging fruit information, but when it came to money and Chinese and fentanyl and chemicals, they were like, ‘No.’ We tried but couldn’t get that information.”
Coming Up: Subscribe to The Bureau for exclusive, paywalled investigations that delve into the intelligence and evidence shaping U.S.–Canada relations. Our upcoming reports expose the rise of Canadian super-labs, Beijing’s United Front Work Department, the covert use of cross-border properties, and growing threats to national security—and lives—across North America. These stories are poised to influence high-level tariff negotiations between Washington and Ottawa.
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