Criminal network disbanded in southeastern Alberta
ARRESTS WILL HIT METH MARKET HARD
A three-month investigation that shone a spotlight on an automotive business in Gleichen has resulted in the dismantling of a criminal network believed to have been supplying drugs throughout the region, said Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team.
“A total of $75,000 in drugs and cash was seized, a loaded handgun, and $450,000 in stolen property,” said Insp. Chad Coles, Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) chief executive officer, at a press conference in Medicine Hat on Friday.
The numerous arrests will have a significant impact on the methamphetamine market in the region including Medicine Hat, Strathmore, Gleichen, Brooks and the Siksika First Nation, said Coles.
Staff Sgt. Cory Both, in charge of organized crime Medicine Hat Police Service, called the seizure of methamphetamine “significant”.
“The amount and the quality that is here would be indicative of larger superlab types more likely coming up from Mexican cartels or larger criminal organizations,” said Both.
A nearby table displayed the seized items including photos of the stolen property that was probably being exchanged for drugs, said Coles.
An automotive business in Gleichen was being used as a front for the drug sales, said Staff Sgt. Tim Kelly of Gleichen RCMP.
“They were the main suppliers for Gleichen and the Siksika First Nations,” said Kelly.
Medicine Hat was involved in the operation because Strathmore and Gleichen fall within Medicine Hat’s jurisdictional radius, said Both.
A wholesale drug trafficking operation like this was likely impacting Medicine Hat, as well.
“This was a challenging and complex investigation and it is going to have some immediate results in our respective communities,” said Both, who believes the network stretched to Lethbridge, Bow Island, Brooks and Bassano.
On Feb. 25, six search warrants and nine arrests took place at four homes in Strathmore, one in Wheatland County, and at a business in Gleichen with assistance from RCMP Emergency Response Team and RCMP Strathmore.
The items seized included a loaded 9 mm Norinco handgun, 561 grams of methamphetamine, 126 grams of crack cocaine, 146 grams of marijuana, $9,000 cash
proceeds of crime, five stolen pickup trucks, two utility trailers, two recreational vehicles, a flat-deck trailer, a skid-steer loader and a transport truck stolen from various locations across southeastern Alberta.
Craig Coffey, a 41-year-old man from Strathmore, is charged with instructing the commission of an offence for a criminal organization, in addition to 27 other charges related to drug trafficking and stolen property, said Both.
Coffey is known to police, said Both. He was on bail for a drug trafficking offence in 2015 when he
was arrested.
Eight associates of Coffey were charged with more than 30 offences: Echo Brandt, 39, of Strathmore; Tracy Brown, 38, of Strathmore; Paul Craig, 42, of Wheatland County; Michael Fittler, 27, of Strathmore; Kurtis Goett, 19, of Strathmore; Michael MacCharles, 49, of Strathmore, James MacCormack, 59, of Gleichen; and Gabriella Michaud, 20, of Strathmore.
Warrants have also been issued for Jalene Campbell, 24, and Kyle Labbe, 31, both of Strathmore.