Six people charged following two Edmonton-area drug busts
RCMP says that it will continue to ‘aggressively target’ illicit crime
A month after finding stashes of drugs, cash and guns in seven homes, Alberta police have laid 32 charges against four Edmontonarea men.
After receiving a tip in January, officers with Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) searched seven homes in the Edmonton area on March 1. They seized a loaded Walther P38 handgun, thousands of rounds of ammunition, 300 grams of cocaine, 20 grams of a drug-cutting agent, 18 grams of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), some oxycodone and ecstasy pills, $95,000 in cash, scales, packaging and other drug paraphernalia.
Four men in their 30s turned themselves into police Tuesday, ALERT spokesman Mike Tucker said.
Facing a host of drug and weapons charges are: Mark Agar, 38
Sean McDermott, 38
Harrold Denny, 36
Jonathon Pederson, 34
“Our officers were fully engaged from the onset of this investigation and will continue to aggressively target those individuals harming our community by being involved in illicit drug crime,” Strathcona County RCMP Superintendent Gary Peck said in a Friday news release.
ALERT is a collaborative team of officers from the Edmonton Police Service, RCMP and Alberta Sheriffs tasked with investigating serious and organized crime.
Edmonton police also arrested a man and a woman last week after finding a stash of weapons and candy coated in drugs in southwest Edmonton.
Gummy watermelon and peach candies coated with shatter, a concentrated marijuana derivative, were likely being produced in the Rutherford-area house, according to police.
Production of shatter is a “dangerous operation” that carries a high risk of explosion, acting Staff Sgt. Curtis Maron said in the news release.
Investigators also found nearly 1.4 kilograms of marijuana worth around $13,680, 186 grams of shatter worth around $18,640, drug production equipment, trafficking paraphernalia, psilocybin and hashish.
They seized a disguised Taser, two replica guns, brass knuckles, some knives and other “edged weapons” police won’t describe, said force spokeswoman Anna Batchelor.
Zlata Delanovic, 26, and Dustin Blayney, 26, are both charged with four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, production of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property under $5,000, three counts of possession of a prohibited device or ammunition and three counts of possession of an offensive weapon dangerous to the public.