Crime
Red Deer RCMP arrest numerous prolific offenders in targeted hot spots
Red Deer, Alberta – Red Deer RCMP recent arrests include the arrests of numerous prolific offenders identified through Pinpoint, the Red Deer crime reduction strategy; a number of offenders were arrested in stolen vehicles while police were patrolling identified crime hot spots, and several arrests were thanks to the tracking abilities of Red Deer police dogs. More arrests came thanks to tips from the public regarding stolen vehicles and suspicious activity.
December 22 – 20171719974
Shortly before 1:30 am on December 22, RCMP located a stolen truck as it drove in north Red Deer. The truck fled from RCMP into the Pines neighbourhood where officers quickly located it abandoned in a nearby alley. Police Dog Services attended and tracked the suspect to the foyer of an apartment building on Patterson Crescent, where she was taken into custody without incident. The truck had been reported stolen out of Leduc on December 20.
A 29 year old woman faces charge of dangerous operation of motor vehicle, operating a motor vehicle while pursued by police, possession of stolen property and a number of traffic charges. Her name cannot be released at this time as those charges have not yet been sworn before the courts.
December 19 – 20171566703
On December 19, Red Deer RCMP located and arrested the second suspect in a personal robbery that took place the evening of November 18 when a man walking home through downtown Red Deer was assaulted by two men in an attempted robbery. RCMP arrested the first suspect on November 24, and identified the second suspect shortly afterward and issued a warrant for his arrest. RCMP located him at a residence at 10 am on December 19 while on a different call, and took him into custody without incident.
James Mitchell was wanted on 10 outstanding warrants out of Medicine Hat at the time of his arrest. He faces the following charges regarding the Red Deer incident on November 18:
· Criminal Code 344(1)(b) – Attempted rRobbery
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 2
Mitchell was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on December 19 and is scheduled to appear again on January 2 at 9:30 am.
December 16 – 20171696940
Shortly before midnight the night of December 16, RCMP on patrol in an area known for criminal activity located a stolen truck being driven by a female suspect. The truck fled police but RCMP located it nearby immediately thanks to a tip from the public, and arrested the woman without incident.
25 year old Madison Leigh Coutre was wanted on nine outstanding warrants at the time of her arrest for possession of stolen property (X 4), breach of probation (X 3), fail to attend court and fail to attend for fingerprinting. She now faces the following additional charges:
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation order
Coutre is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 4 at 9:30 am.
December 16 – 20171693373
Shortly after 8 am on December 16, RCMP were called to a store to arrest a shoplifter who had been detained by store security. The suspect resisted arrest and attempted to assault police; he was subdued and arrested without injury to himself or to the arresting officers. He was found to be wanted on three outstanding warrants out of Edmonton.
37 year old Gary Reginald Mills faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 270(1)(a) – Assault on police officer X 2
· Criminal Code 129(a) – Resist/ obstruct peace officer
· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000 X 2
Mills is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 11 at 9:30 am.
December 15 – 20171691786
Shortly after 9:30 pm on December 15, RCMP responded to a report of a theft of vehicle in progress in Northwood Estates after a man intercepted a suspect in the process of stealing his truck and detained him until police arrived. RCMP immediately responded and took a 37 year old man into custody without incident.
37 year old Jason Romeo Denomme faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 333.1 – Theft of truck
· Criminal Code 259(4) – Operate motor vehicle while disqualified
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule I substance (methamphetamine)
Denomme was remanded to appear in court on December 20; he is scheduled to appear again on January 3 at 9:30 am.
December 14 – 20171682155
Shortly before 12:30 am on December 14, RCMP responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the Riverside Industrial area and attended immediately. On arrival they located a parked Dodge truck with no license plate, with a male behind the wheel. The driver rammed the police car and fled at high speeds through the Normandeau and Glendale neighbourhoods before coming to a stop, likely due to an engine malfunction. The driver attempted to flee police on foot and resisted arrest but was taken into custody without injury to himself or to police officers.
29 year old Jesse Joseph Cecka faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 129(a) – Resist/ obstruct peace officer
· Criminal Code 249(1)(a) – Dangerous operation of motor vehicle
· Criminal Code 249.1(1) – Operate motor vehicle while pursued by police
· Criminal Code 252(1)(b) – Fail to stop at scene
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000
Cecka is scheduled to appear in court on January 5 at 9:30 am.
December 14 – 20171682444/ 20171682047
At 4 am on December 14, RCMP on patrol in an area known for criminal activity located a suspicious truck that fled police. RCMP didn’t pursue the truck but other police officers moved to intercept it as it fled and located it abandoned shortly afterward. Police Dog Services attended and tracked both suspects, who were taken into custody without incident. The female driver was arrested for possession of stolen property and the male passenger was arrested for a file earlier the same night where he was seen by police in a stolen vehicle and fled police on foot.
24 year old Derica Patricia Mercer faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 56.1 – Illegal possession or trafficking in government documents
· Criminal Code 249(1)(a) – Dangerous operation of motor vehicle
· Criminal Code 249.1(1) – Operate motor vehicle while pursued by police
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000 X 2
· TSA 51(a) – Drive without operator’s license
· TSA 52(1)(a) – Drive without registration
· TSA 54(1)(a) – Drive without insurance
Mercer was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on December 21 and did not appear; her charges have now gone to warrant status.
The 32 year old male passenger faces a charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 and a traffic charge. His name cannot be released at this time as those charges have not yet been sworn before the courts.
December 14 – 20171386449
In the early morning of December 14, RCMP located a woman who was wanted on a number of outstanding warrants after she failed to appear in court in Red Deer in November regarding the theft of two purses from two Red Deer fitness facilities in October and her subsequent use of one of the credit cards to purchase almost $1,000 in prepaid Visa cards.
At the time of her arrest on December 14, 27 year old Brittany Danielle Aebly was wanted on outstanding warrants for other files, as well, including possession for the purpose of trafficking (X 2), careless use of a firearm (X 4), possession of a firearm (X 4), possession of a weapon dangerous to the public (X 4), all out of Red Deer, and three warrants out of Grande Prairie for theft (X 2) and possession of counterfeit currency.
She also faces the following charges regarding the purse theft:
· Criminal Code 342(1)(a) – Theft, forgery, misuse of credit card
· Criminal Code 334(b) – Other theft under $5,000 X 3
· Criminal Code 145(2)(a) – Fail to attend court X 2
Aebly is scheduled to appear in court on January 9, 2018 at 9:30 am.
December 11 – 20171671413
At 4 pm on December 11, RCMP received several reports of a suspicious vehicle in the downtown and determined the truck had been reported stolen out of Red Deer earlier the same day. RCMP located the truck and executed a traffic stop after it pulled into a parking lot in West Park. The male driver and female passenger were arrested without incident; the female passenger was later released without charge. In the truck, RCMP located a large collection of tools that had been reported stolen in a commercial break and enter earlier the same day and were estimated to be worth $15,000. Those tools were returned to their owner. Police also seized several sets of vehicle keys that had been reported stolen.
41 year old Aaron James Campbell faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000 X 3
· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions
· TSA 94(2) – Drive while unauthorized
· TSA 54(1)(a) – Drive without insurance
Campbell is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 10 at 9:30 am.
December 5 – 20171643061
At 1 pm on December 5, RCMP on patrol in an area known for criminal activity located a stolen car being driven by a female suspect. RCMP tracked the vehicle at a distance until it was parked and the driver had exited the car, then arrested her without incident. RCMP seized fentanyl and meth in quantities and packaging that indicated trafficking, and seized smaller amounts of heroin and ecstasy. The car had been reported stolen out of Red Deer on November 3 after it was left running and unlocked.
22 year old Reanne Brodersen faces the following charges:
· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000
· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000
· CDSA 5(2) – Possession of Schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking X 2 (fentanyl, methamphetamine)
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule I substance (heroin)
· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule III substance (ecstasy)
Brodersen is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on January 18, 2018 at 9:30 am.
Read more from Todayville.com.
Crime
CBSA Bust Uncovers Mexican Cartel Network in Montreal High-Rise, Moving Hundreds Across Canada-U.S. Border
A court document cited by La Presse in prior reporting on the case.
The conviction targets Edgar Gonzalez de Paz, 37, a Mexican national identified in court evidence as a key organizer in a Montreal-based smuggling network that La Presse documented in March through numerous legal filings.
According to the Canada Border Services Agency, Gonzalez de Paz’s guilty plea acknowledges that he arranged a clandestine crossing for seven migrants on January 27–28, 2024, in exchange for money. He had earlier been arrested and charged with avoiding examination and returning to Canada without authorization.
Breaking the story in March, La Presse reported: “A Mexican criminal organization has established itself in Montreal, where it is making a fortune by illegally smuggling hundreds of migrants across the Canada-U.S. border. Thanks to the seizure of two accounting ledgers, Canadian authorities have gained unprecedented access to the group’s secrets, which they hope to dismantle in the coming months.”
La Presse said the Mexico-based organization ran crossings in both directions — Quebec to the United States and vice versa — through roughly ten collaborators, some family-linked, charging $5,000 to $6,000 per trip and generating at least $1 million in seven months.
The notebooks seized by CBSA listed clients, guarantors, recruiters in Mexico, and accomplices on the U.S. side. In one April 20, 2024 interception near the border, police stopped a vehicle registered to Gonzalez de Paz and, according to evidence cited by La Presse, identified him as one of the “main organizers,” operating without legal status from a René-Lévesque Boulevard condo that served as headquarters.
Seizures included cellphones, a black notebook, and cocaine. A roommate’s second notebook helped authorities tally about 200 migrants and more than $1 million in receipts.
“This type of criminal organization is ruthless and often threatens customers if they do not pay, or places them in a vulnerable situation,” a CBSA report filed as evidence stated, according to La Presse.
The Montreal-based organization first appeared on the radar in a rural community of about 400 inhabitants in the southern Montérégie region bordering New York State, La Presse reported, citing court documents.
On the U.S. side of the line, in the Swanton Sector (Vermont and adjoining northern New York and New Hampshire), authorities reported an exceptional surge in 2022–2023 — driven largely by Mexican nationals rerouting via Canada — foreshadowing the Mexican-cartel smuggling described in the CBSA case.
Gonzalez de Paz had entered Canada illegally in 2023, according to La Presse. When officers arrested him, CBSA agents seized 30 grams of cocaine, two cellphones, and a black notebook filled with handwritten notes. In his apartment, they found clothing by Balenciaga, a luxury brand whose T-shirts retail for roughly $1,000 each.
Investigators have linked this case to another incident at the same address involving a man named Mario Alberto Perez Gutierrez, a resident of the same condo as early as 2023.
Perez Gutierrez was accompanied by several men known to Canadian authorities for cocaine trafficking, receiving stolen goods, armed robbery, or loitering in the woods near the American border, according to a Montreal Police Service (SPVM) report filed as evidence.
The CBSA argued before the immigration tribunal that Gonzalez de Paz belonged to a group active in human and drug trafficking — “activities usually orchestrated by Mexican cartels.”
As The Bureau has previously reported, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Cabinet was warned in 2016 that lifting visa requirements for Mexican visitors would “facilitate travel to Canada by Mexicans with criminal records,” potentially including “drug smugglers, human smugglers, recruiters, money launderers and foot soldiers.”
CBSA “serious-crime” flags tied to Mexican nationals rose sharply after the December 2016 visa change. Former CBSA officer Luc Sabourin, in a sworn affidavit cited by The Bureau, alleged that hundreds of cartel-linked operatives entered Canada following the visa lift.
The closure of Roxham Road in 2023 altered migrant flows and increased reliance on organized smugglers — a shift reflected in the ledger-mapped Montreal network and a spike in U.S. northern-border encounters.
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Crime
Public Execution of Anti-Cartel Mayor in Michoacán Prompts U.S. Offer to Intervene Against Cartels
“I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed”
On the first night of November, during Day of the Dead celebrations, the independent, anti-cartel mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán, Carlos Manzo, was assassinated in the heart of his city during a public festival. His bloody murder has underscored the deadly risks faced by local officials who may lack adequate protection from a state that critics say is corroded by corruption and penetrated by powerful cartel networks that, in some regions, have supplanted government authority. The killing intensifies urgent questions about political and police corruption, cartel impunity, and the scope of U.S.–Mexico security cooperation — with a response from the U.S. State Department today offering to “deepen security cooperation with Mexico.”
Manzo, a fiercely outspoken anti-cartel mayor who took office in 2024 as Uruapan’s first independent leader, was gunned down as he stood before crowds at the annual Day of the Dead candlelight celebration. Witnesses said gunfire erupted shortly after Manzo appeared onstage, holding his young son moments before the attack. The festival, known locally as the Festival de las Velas, drew hundreds of families to Uruapan’s central plaza — now transformed into the scene of Mexico’s latest high-profile political assassination, and a catalyst for nationwide outrage, as online protests surged and citizens called for demonstrations against cartel violence.
According to early reports, at least two suspects have been detained and one attacker was killed on site. Authorities asserted — despite the success of the attack — that Manzo had been under National Guard protection since December 2024, with additional reinforcements added in May 2025 following credible threats to his life.
In Washington today, the killing drew political reaction. “My thoughts are with the family and friends of Carlos Manzo, mayor of Uruapan, Michoacán, Mexico, who was assassinated at a public Day of the Dead celebration last night. The United States stands ready to deepen security cooperation with Mexico to wipe out organized crime on both sides of the border,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, the former U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said in a statement shared online.
Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said the gunmen “took advantage of the vulnerability of a public event” to carry out the attack, despite a standing security perimeter.
President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the killing as a “vile” assault on democracy and vowed there would be “zero impunity.” Her administration convened an emergency security meeting and pledged that the investigation would reach the “intellectual authors” of the crime. Yet the murder has already ignited outrage across Mexico over the government’s failure to protect local officials in cartel-dominated states such as Michoacán, where extortion, assassinations, and territorial disputes continue to erode basic governance.
Manzo had publicly warned of his fate. “I don’t want to be just another mayor on the list of those executed,” he said earlier this year, as he pressed the federal government for better coordination between municipal and military authorities. For years, Uruapan — an agricultural and trade hub in western Mexico — has been the site of deadly clashes between the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and remnants of the Knights Templar Organization, both vying to control lucrative extortion and drug routes.
The killing of Manzo fits a dark and familiar pattern. In 2025 alone, several mayors in Michoacán, Guerrero, and Tamaulipas have been killed in attacks widely attributed to organized-crime groups. In June, the mayors of Tepalcatepec and Tacámbaro were ambushed and slain while traveling in official convoys. More than 90 local officials have been murdered since 2018 — a rate that analysts say reflects how cartels target municipal governments to ensure political control over territories tied to narcotics, mining, and agriculture. Uruapan, at the heart of Mexico’s avocado belt, is a strategic prize for the cartels that tax every shipment leaving the region.
The mayor’s death also recalls earlier tragedies that scarred the nation. In 2012, Dr. María Santos Gorrostieta Salazar, the former mayor of Tiquicheo, was abducted and murdered after surviving two assassination attempts and defying cartel threats. Her death became emblematic of the dangers faced by reformers who refuse to cooperate with criminal groups. More than a decade later, Manzo’s murder illustrates that little has changed — except the brazenness of the attackers, now willing to strike in front of cameras and families celebrating one of Mexico’s most sacred holidays.
The killing has also reignited long-standing U.S. frustration over Mexico’s inability to stem cartel violence, even as the Trump administration has expanded counter-narcotics operations at the border. Under Trump’s renewed directives, the U.S. has classified several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and empowered the Pentagon to develop strike options against high-value targets abroad. A September 2025 joint statement between Washington and Mexico City pledged deeper intelligence sharing and cross-border enforcement initiatives, including efforts to halt arms trafficking southward.
However, Mexico’s government remains deeply wary of any U.S. military involvement on its soil. President Sheinbaum has warned that “Mexico will not stand for an invasion in the name of counter-cartel operations,” rebuffing Republican calls for unilateral action. Her position lays bare a long-standing tension between Mexico’s need for U.S. support and its insistence on sovereignty — a fault line that Manzo’s killing has reignited.
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