Crime
Red Deer RCMP make arrests in crime hot spots

Red Deer, Alberta – Red Deer RCMP recent arrests include a number of successes while patrolling targeted crime hot spots, and a continued focus on locating suspects wanted on warrants and conducting compliance checks on individuals known to have court imposed conditions such as curfews; these strategies are key to Red Deer’s Pinpoint crime reduction focus on repeat offenders and emerging issues. Red Deer RCMP thank the public for their support in continuing to report suspicious vehicles and activity, which resulted in numerous more arrests over the past two weeks.March 26 –Shortly after 2 am on March 26, RCMP on patrol in an identified crime hot spot located a suspect in a stolen truck and arrested him without incident. The truck had been stolen out of Calgary.29 year old Gregory Bruce Deering faces the following charges:· Criminal Code 355(a) – Possession of stolen property over $5,000· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation X 2Deering is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on April 16 at 8:30 am.March 26 –At 12:30 am on March 26, RCMP on patrol in an identified crime hot spot located a man who was wanted on outstanding warrants and arrested him after being given a false name. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was found to be breaching several court-imposed conditions, including a curfew.36 year old Peter Gopher faces the following charges in addition to his warrants:· Criminal Code 129(a) – Resist/ obstruct peace officer· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions X 2Gopher was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on March 28 at 9:30 am.March 24 –Red Deer RCMP located and arrested a man who was wanted on warrants for possession of stolen property and failing to appear in court regarding a June 2016 break and enter in Red Deer. 56 year old Hans John Schafer had failed to appear in court several times regarding this file, and had several warrants issued and executed by RCMP over the past year. After RCMP arrested him on March 24, he was remanded and will appear in court in Red Deer on April 3 at 8:30 am to face the charges against him.March 23 –Shortly before 1:30 pm, a Community Peace Officer in downtown Red Deer determined that the vehicle he was conducting a traffic stop on had been stolen; RCMP attended and arrested the suspect without incident. A 34 year old man faces a charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000 (CC 355(a)) and is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on May 8 at 9:30 am. His name cannot be released at this time as that charge has not yet been sworn before the courts.March 23 –Shortly before 3:30 am on March 23, RCMP responded to a report of suspicious activity at a convenience store in south Red Deer; on arrival, RCMP located a suspect who was known to be wanted on an outstanding warrant for breaching his probation; police took the suspect into custody without incident and found him to be in possession of break-in tools.In addition to his warrant, 47 year old Joel Bremner faces a charge of Criminal Code 351(1) – Possess break-in tools. Bremner was scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on March 27.March 22 –At 11:30 pm on March 22, RCMP responded to a report of someone entering parked vehicles in the Normandeau neighbourhood and arrested a man as he was going through the contents of a truck. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was wanted on outstanding warrants for breaching parole and failing to comply with conditions.In addition to those warrants, 39 year old Matthew Peter Schoonderwoerd faces the following charges:· Criminal Code 334(b) – Theft under $5,000· Criminal Code 430(4) – Mischief under $5,000 X 2· Criminal Code 145(3) – Fail to comply with conditions· Criminal Code 733.1(1) – Fail to comply with probation X 2· Criminal Code 355(b) – Possession of stolen property under $5,000Schoonderwoerd is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on March 28 at 9:30 am.March 21 –Shortly before 10 pm on March 21, RCMP on patrol in the Riverside Light industrial area located a stolen Dodge Ram as it drove on Riverside Drive. Police officers successfully laid a tire deflation device, and the truck drove on damaged back tires into the downtown, where it fled eastbound onto westbound Ross Street into oncoming traffic. Police did not pursue for public safety reasons, but tracked the truck into the Grandview neighbourhood as it drove on heavily damaged rims, lost control and came to a stop. The driver attempted to flee on foot but was arrested after a brief foot chase.45 year old Cody Mitchell Morrow faces the following charges:· Criminal Code 129(a) – Resist/ obstruct peace officer· Criminal Code 249(1) – 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 $5,000Morrow was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on March 26 and is scheduled to appear again on April 4 at 9:30 am.March 19 –On March 19, RCMP obtained a warrant for the arrest of 26 year old Chance Aaron Shaw regarding a fraud complaint made to police on March 15. After investigating an allegation that Shaw had represented himself as a legal professional and had received payment for legal services from a victim in February and March of 2018, RCMP charged Shaw with one count of fraud over $5,000 (CC 380(1)(a)) and one count of failing to comply with conditions (CC 145(3)). Shaw is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on March 28 at 8:30 am.March 18 –The night of March 18, RCMP conducted a curfew check on an individual and determined that he was not at home, in violation of his court-imposed conditions. RCMP obtained a warrant for the arrest of 27 year old Robert Theus Handy and executed the warrant on March 22. Handy faces a charge of failing to comply with conditions and was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on March 26. He is scheduled to appear again on April 4 at 9:30 am.March 16 –The night of March 16, RCMP conducting a residence check on an individual determined that he was in breach of court-imposed residence conditions. RCMP obtained a warrant for his arrest and located and arrested the suspect on March 25.28 year old Luke David Johnson faces a charge of failing to comply with conditions (CC 145(3)) and was remanded to appear in court in Red Deer on March 27; he is scheduled to appear in court again on March 29 at 9:30 am.March 14 –At 4:30 am on March 14, RCMP on patrol in north Red Deer located a truck with an invalid license plate. For the safety of the public, RCMP waited until the truck was parked before blocking it in with several police vehicles. RCMP took the male driver and two female passengers into custody without incident; RCMP seized a sawed off rifle that was found beneath the driver’s seat along with ammunition and what is believed to be a counterfeit Canadian $50 bill. The male driver was wanted on outstanding warrants for possession of methamphetamine and failing to appear in court.28 year old Dylan John Buehler (aka Dylan Warren) faces the following charges in addition to his warrants:· Criminal Code 94(1) – Possession of firearm in motor vehicle· Criminal Code 95(1) – Possession restricted firearm with ammunition without license· Criminal Code 91(1) – Unauthorized possession of firearm· Criminal Code 90(1) – Carry concealed weapon· Criminal Code 86(1) – Careless use of a firearm· CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule VIII substanceWarren is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on March 29 at 9:30 am.A 27 year old woman will face one charge of Criminal Code 450 – Possession of counterfeit money and a 28 year old woman will face one charge of CDSA 4(1) – Possession of Schedule VIII substance. Both women are scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on May 8 at 8:30 am; their names cannot be released at this time as those charges have not yet been sworn before the courts.
Crime
The Left Thinks Drug Criminalization Is Racist. Minorities Disagree

[This article was originally published in City Journal, a public policy magazine and website published by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research]
By Adam Zivo
A Canadian poll finds that racial minorities don’t believe drug enforcement is bigoted.
Is drug prohibition racist? Many left-wing institutions seem to think so. But their argument is historically illiterate—and it contradicts recent polling data, too, which show that minorities overwhelmingly reject that view.
Policies and laws are tools to establish order. Like any tool, they can be abused. The first drug laws in North America, dating back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, arguably fixated on opium as a legal pretext to harass Asian immigrants, for example. But no reasonable person would argue that laws against home invasion, murder, or theft are “racist” because they have been misapplied in past cases. Absent supporting evidence, leaping from “this tool is sometimes used in racist ways” to “this tool is essentially racist” is kindergarten-level reasoning.
Yet this is precisely what institutions and activist groups throughout the Western world have done. The Drug Policy Alliance, a U.S.-based organization, suggests that drug prohibition is rooted in “racism and fear.” Harm Reduction International, a British NGO, argues for legalization on the grounds that drug prohibition entrenches “racialized hierarchies, which were established under colonial control and continue to dominate today.” In Canada, where I live, the top public health official in British Columbia, our most drug-permissive province, released a pro-legalization report last summer claiming that prohibition is “based on a history of racism, white supremacy, paternalism, colonialism, classism and human rights violations.”
These claims ignore how drug prohibition has been and remains popular in many non-European societies. Sharia law has banned the use of mind-altering substances since the seventh century. When Indigenous leaders negotiated treaties with Canadian colonists in the late 1800s, they asked for “the exclusion of fire water (whiskey)” from their communities. That same century, China’s Qing Empire banned opium amid a national addiction crisis. “Opium is a poison, undermining our good customs and morality,” the Daoguang emperor wrote in an 1810 edict.
Today, Asian and Muslim jurisdictions impose much stiffer penalties on drug offenders than do Western nations. In countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Singapore, and Thailand, addicts and traffickers are given lengthy prison sentences or executed. Meantime, in Canada and the United States, de facto decriminalization has left urban cores littered with syringes and shrouded in clouds of meth.
The anti-drug backlash building in North America appears to be spearheaded by racial minorities. When Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s former district attorney, was recalled in 2022, support for his ouster was highest among Asian voters. Last fall, 73 percent of Latinos backed California’s Proposition 36, which heightened penalties for drug crimes, while only 58 percent of white respondents did.
In Canada, the first signs of a parallel trend emerged during Vancouver’s 2022 municipal election, where an apparent surge in Chinese Canadian support helped install a slate of pro-police candidates. Then, in British Columbia’s provincial election last autumn, nonwhite voters strongly preferred the BC Conservatives, who campaigned on stricter drug laws. And in last month’s federal election, within both Vancouver and Toronto’s metropolitan areas, tough-on-crime conservatives received considerable support from South Asian communities.
These are all strong indicators that racial minorities do not, in fact, universally favor drug legalization. But their small population share means there is relatively little polling data to measure their preferences. Since only 7.6 percent of Americans are Asian, for example, a poll of 1,000 randomly selected people will yield an average of only 76 Asian respondents—too small a sample from which to draw meaningful conclusions. You can overcome this barrier by commissioning very large polls, but that’s expensive.
Nonetheless, last autumn, the Centre for Responsible Drug Policy (a nonprofit I founded and operate) did just that. In partnership with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, we contracted Mainstreet Research to ask over 12,000 British Columbians: “Do you agree or disagree that criminalizing drugs is racist?”
The results undermine progressives’ assumptions. Only 26 percent of nonwhite respondents agreed (either strongly or weakly) that drug criminalization is racist, while over twice as many (56 percent) disagreed. The share of nonwhite respondents who strongly disagreed was three times larger than the share that strongly agreed (43.2 percent versus 14.3 percent). These results are fairly conclusive for this jurisdiction, given the poll’s sample size of 2,233 nonwhite respondents and a margin of error of 2 percent.
Notably, Indigenous respondents seemed to be the most anti-drug ethnic group: only 20 percent agreed (weakly or strongly) with the “criminalization is racist” narrative, while 61 percent disagreed. Once again, those who disagreed were much more vehement than those who agreed. With a sample size of 399 respondents, the margin of error here (5 percent) is too small to confound these dramatic results.
We saw similar outcomes for other minority groups, such as South Asians, Southeast Asians, Latinos, and blacks. While Middle Eastern respondents also seemed to follow this trend, the poll included too few of them to draw definitive conclusions. Only East Asians were divided on the issue, though a clear majority still disagreed that criminalization is racist.
As this poll was limited to British Columbian respondents, our findings cannot necessarily be assumed to hold throughout Canada and the United States. But since the province is arguably the most drug-permissive jurisdiction within the two countries, these results could represent the ceiling of pro-drug, anti-criminalization attitudes among minority communities.
Legalization proponents and their progressive allies take pride in being “anti-racist.” Our polling, however, suggests that they are not listening to the communities they profess to care about.
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Crime
National Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in 324 Defendants Charged in Connection with Over $14.6 Billion in Alleged Fraud

A 50-district dragnet uncovers transnational fraud, AI-driven deception, and systemic theft from Medicare, Medicaid, and U.S. taxpayers totaling over $14.6 billion
The Department of Justice announced Monday the outcome of the 2025 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, the largest coordinated enforcement action against health care fraud in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against 324 individuals across 50 federal judicial districts and 12 State Attorneys General’s Offices, including 96 licensed medical professionals—among them doctors, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. The defendants stand accused of orchestrating fraudulent schemes amounting to more than $14.6 billion in intended losses to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federally funded programs.

This historic enforcement action more than doubles the previous national record of $6 billion. As part of this effort, federal and state authorities have seized over $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other high-value assets. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) separately reported that it successfully prevented more than $4 billion in fraudulent payments in the months leading up to the Takedown. CMS also confirmed that it suspended or revoked the billing privileges of 205 providers linked to fraudulent activity. In the civil domain, federal agencies filed actions against 20 defendants tied to $14.2 million in alleged fraud and finalized civil settlements with an additional 106 defendants, totaling $34.3 million in recovered funds.
The Takedown was led by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the DOJ Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and carried out in close coordination with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and multiple state law enforcement agencies. Medicaid Fraud Control Units in 18 states also played a central role in investigating and prosecuting the cases.
In remarks accompanying the announcement, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. emphasized that the agency would aggressively work with law enforcement to eliminate the “pervasive health care fraud that drove up costs and harmed patients under the former administration.” Attorney General Pamela Bondi echoed the urgency, calling the action “justice delivered to those who steal from taxpayers and endanger lives.” Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, underscored the gravity of the crimes targeted, noting that fraudulent schemes often lead not only to financial losses but also to direct patient harm, including medically unnecessary procedures and worsened addiction outcomes.
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized that this Takedown represents the largest in the bureau’s history, highlighting the theft of more than $13 billion from federal health programs. Acting Inspector General Juliet T. Hodgkins of HHS-OIG described the scale of harm as unprecedented and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to safeguarding the public.
Among the most significant components of this national operation was Operation Gold Rush, which uncovered a sophisticated transnational conspiracy responsible for over $10 billion in fraudulent Medicare claims. The scheme was orchestrated by foreign nationals who, acting as a coordinated criminal enterprise, acquired more than 30 medical supply companies across the United States. These companies had already been enrolled in Medicare, and were then used to funnel false claims for urinary catheters and other durable medical equipment. Stolen identities of over one million Americans were used to submit these claims, which had not been requested by patients, nor ordered by physicians.
The conspiracy relied on straw owners sent from Russia and Estonia to the U.S., who were directed by co-conspirators communicating through encrypted channels. Using fraudulent documentation, these straw owners opened U.S. bank accounts for laundering proceeds. Though the organization submitted over $10.6 billion in claims, CMS successfully blocked most of the payments. Only approximately $41 million reached the conspirators via Medicare, but approximately $900 million was disbursed by Medicare supplemental insurers before the fraud was detected.
Four individuals were arrested in Estonia and eight others were apprehended at major U.S. airports and border crossings as they attempted to flee. Law enforcement seized approximately $27.7 million in fraud proceeds from this operation.

Federal prosecutors filed related charges in five districts: the Central District of California, the Middle District of Florida, the Northern District of Illinois, the District of New Jersey, and the Eastern District of New York.
In a separate scheme centered in Illinois, the Department brought charges against five individuals, including two executives from Pakistani marketing firms, who used artificial intelligence to generate fake audio recordings of Medicare beneficiaries purporting to consent to receive medical equipment. This fraudulent data was sold to laboratories and equipment suppliers, which used it to file $703 million in false claims. Approximately $418 million was ultimately paid out on these claims, and the government has so far seized $44.7 million in related assets. The fraud involved not only AI-based deception but also the illegal sale and laundering of stolen personal health information.
Another case exposed a billing company executive based in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates who conspired with addiction treatment centers to submit approximately $650 million in fraudulent claims to Arizona Medicaid. Some services billed were never rendered, and others were so deficient as to provide no therapeutic value. The operation targeted vulnerable individuals, including members of Native American tribes and the homeless. Kickbacks were paid for patient referrals, and the executive used at least $25 million in illicit funds to purchase a $2.9 million home in Dubai.

The Department also charged 49 defendants in connection with over $1.17 billion in fraudulent claims tied to telemedicine and genetic testing. In one Florida case, an owner of both telemedicine and durable medical equipment companies orchestrated a $46 million scheme involving deceptive telemarketing campaigns that generated unauthorized genetic testing and equipment claims. The Department continues to prioritize cases involving telehealth-based fraud, which often exploits unwitting patients through misrepresented or manufactured consent.
Prescription opioid diversion was another central focus of the Takedown. A total of 74 defendants, including 44 licensed medical professionals, were charged across 58 criminal cases for illegally distributing more than 15 million opioid pills. One Texas pharmacy alone was responsible for over 3 million of these pills, which included highly addictive substances such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and carisoprodol. The DEA concurrently announced 93 administrative actions to revoke licenses and registrations of pharmacies and providers implicated in the unlawful handling of controlled substances.
Other cases include a $28.7 million scheme in Tennessee involving medications falsely billed to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Fund, where prescriptions were neither authorized by physicians nor dispensed as claimed. In separate indictments filed in Washington and California, medical providers were charged with stealing fentanyl and hydrocodone intended for pediatric patients under anesthesia.
The geographic scope of the Takedown was vast. In total, 189 federal cases were filed across all 50 federal judicial districts, and 91 state-level cases were brought in 12 states by participating Attorneys General. This unprecedented coordination underscores the national impact and bipartisan support for rooting out fraud in American health care systems.
To enhance ongoing efforts, the Department also announced the establishment of a new Health Care Fraud Data Fusion Center.

This joint initiative brings together specialists from the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit, HHS-OIG, FBI, and CMS to leverage cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and large-scale data analytics to detect emergent fraud patterns. The Fusion Center aligns with Executive Order 14243, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” which mandates interagency cooperation and data-sharing to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency in enforcement.
Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Jacob Foster, Assistant Deputy Chief Rebecca Yuan, Trial Attorney Miriam L. Glaser Dauermann, and Data Analyst Elizabeth Nolte coordinated this year’s Takedown from within the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit. Prosecutors from the National Rapid Response team and regional Strike Forces in 27 districts led casework alongside U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 18 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Additional support came from the Department of Labor, VA-OIG, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Office of Personnel Management, the United States Postal Service OIG, and numerous other federal and local agencies.
Image sources: US DOJ
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