Guns, money and drugs seized by Alberta police

CALGARY Five large tables loaded with fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and firearms was the culmination of a year-long investigation into a drug-trafficking network based in Calgary.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams displayed the seizure from 11 different Calgary homes at a news conference Wednesday.

“This is ALERT’s largest fentanyl seizure to date,” said Insp. Patty McCallum. “It is the investigators belief these pills were sourced from British Columbia.”

“Given the health crisis our communities have faced over opioid abuse, there’s no doubt in my mind that lives have been saved.”

McCallum said the 15,757 fentanyl pills and 28 kilograms of methamphetamine are both record seizures in Alberta. But she said it’s obvious there’s plenty more out there.

“It’s anyone’s guess as to how much is out there. We’re not naive to the fact that we aren’t going to be able to get it all, but it certainly puts a dent in the abilities of the drug traffickers,” she said.

Police laid 120 charges during Project Offshore related to drugs, firearms, proceeds of crime, and organized crime. Warrants have been issued for three of the suspects who have not yet been arrested.

The methamphetamine, which was 96 per cent pure, either came from Calgary or Mexico. The fentanyl is believed to have come from British Columbia.

“With this particular network we found it went from Vancouver to Calgary to Saskatoon to Toronto to Montreal, so we’ve hit several different provinces with this investigation.”

The investigation involved a number of agencies including the Calgary Police Service, RCMP, Lethbridge Police, Alberta Sheriffs, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Seized Property Management Directorate, Canada Revenue Agency, and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.