Hike in drug seizures reflects increase in use
Despite arrests, police say solving issue will take ‘community effort’
Despite significant seizures, the amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine making its way into the province continues to rise, bringing with it criminal charges, shattered lives and multiple deaths.
“Probably over the last three to five years, meth and fentanyl really have skyrocketed ...,” said Regina Police Service Insp. Cory Lindskog, officer in charge of a variety of sections, including drugs and gangs. “There’s a high demand for it, because we have a lot of people with substance abuse issues in the city. And so when you get that demand, then you get bigger supplies coming in and then our enforcement efforts have led to those bigger seizures.”
In recent weeks, city police in Regina and Saskatoon and members of the RCMP have released information about a variety of significant seizures and arrests.
In March, the RPS charged five Alberta men with drug trafficking offences after a search warrant at a Regina residence turned up a whopping 450 grams of fentanyl, among other items. With one dose of fentanyl typically considered one-tenth of a gram, that quantity amounts to 4,500 doses.
Only five days before that, police executed five separate search warrants and turned up 380 grams of fentanyl. As part of that, individuals from Alberta, Ontario and Regina were arrested — including one man wanted on murder charges in Alberta.
A traffic stop on April 30 turned up approximately 300 grams of fentanyl and resulted in the arrests of four Calgary residents.
A joint investigation between Regina and Saskatoon police led to the seizure on May 21 of approximately 500 grams of fentanyl, 4,500 grams of meth and 300 grams of cocaine, among other items. In that case, several Regina residents and one from British Columbia were charged.
Additional investigations — some of which were carried out jointly between police agencies — located even more illicit drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine and meth, among other substances, weapons and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan RCMP’S Traffic Services units have made a number of seizures on the province’s highways over the past 30 days.
During the week of May 11, during numerous traffic stops, members seized approximately 10 grams of suspected fentanyl as well as 40 pounds of bulk cannabis and 1,500 packages of cannabis edibles.
“This is a significant opioid seizure in light of (the) recent increase of overdoses in the province,” read a statement from the RCMP.
The latest figures for Regina, from May 4, reported 233 overdoses since Jan. 1 of this year — a staggering number, given 82 overdoses were reported during the entirety of 2019. City police attended 110 of this year’s overdoses and administered Narcan 24 times.
As of the beginning of May, 11 deaths were considered drug-related, while another 11 deaths were still unconfirmed as to cause.
Saskatoon’s numbers are also up. Medavie Health Services West recently reported having responded to an average of 40 to 45 overdose calls each week, with one week coming in at 88.
Police have continued to put out warnings to the public about the presence of dangerous drugs and the resulting overdoses, but numbers continue to come in.
“It’s a substance abuse issue,” Lindskog said. “They might understand the risks, but the addiction is so strong.”
At the street level, many of those who sell suffer from drug problems, but Lindskog said the overall structure of drug trafficking remains organized.
“It’s not necessarily tied to specific street gangs or (a group) that we can label as an organized criminal organization,” he said. “I would say it is quite organized when the supply of drugs is coming in from out of the province, and there are groups working together to bring it in and then sell it within our community.”
While several recent arrests have an Alberta connection, Lindskog said there isn’t any one province or location that is the focus of police attention.
“We don’t know specifically if it’s from the east or if it’s from the west, but we do know that it’s coming from out of province, ...” he said. “My understanding is that the supply comes in from out of the province, and there are groups that are in contact with people out of the province. They bring this in and then distribute it and sell it within our community. But how organized it is and what kind of partnerships or relationships they have, I really can’t say.”
In order to try to stay on top of the movement of drugs between provinces, police in Saskatchewan work together and with their counterparts in other parts of Canada.
“I wouldn’t say it’s formal partnerships, but it’s just more the nature of police work ...,” Lindskog said. “They can share information. If they see something happening in one community, they can spread the word to others what they’re seeing, any trends that are happening or intelligence that they’re seeing.”
While information shared between police is important, information received from the public is even more crucial. Lindskog said people calling in to report suspicious activity or people or providing information on who might be supplying drugs is imperative.
“Anytime we get information that’s valuable, we investigate and see where it leads,” he said. “Sometimes it leads to a bigger seizure. Sometimes it’s a dead end. But more information is better.”
Lindskog points out dealing with the drug problem — one Chief Evan Bray has called an epidemic — isn’t just a war for the police to fight.
“This is a societal issue,” he said. “It’s a substance abuse problem that goes far beyond just law enforcement. It’s a community response that’s needed ... We can investigate and we can make arrests and we can seize (drugs) but that’s not going to end the problem. It’s still going to keep coming in as long as there are people that have these addictions, that have substance abuse problems.”
While meth, fentanyl and cocaine are a clear focus for police, illegal cannabis remains a concern. Despite legalization, there is still plenty on the black market — evidenced by recent seizures.
“When black market cannabis is purchased instead of a legal and regulated store, the funds support organized crime groups in various capacities throughout the country and in local communities,” said the statement from RCMP. “This is detrimental, as the funds used to purchase the illicit cannabis directly support some of the many illegal activities that ruin the lives of Canadians everyday.”
It’s a substance abuse issue. They might understand the risks, but the addiction is so strong.