City woman facing more drug charges

ALERT Lethbridge announced Tuesday it recently made a major seizure of drugs and illegal weapons from a Lethbridge hotel room.

Lethbridge resident Samantha Hattersley, 28, is charged with 12 firearms and weapons offences; seven charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking; possession of a controlled substance; possession of the proceeds of crime; and four charges of breach of recognizance — all stemming from her April 11 arrest. Hattersley has previously been charged with possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking and for being in possession of weapons. Those charges are still before the court.

Hattersley was arrested this time with an SKS rifle, an imitation handgun and other weapons. She was allegedly in possession of 36 grams of what police suspect to be carfentanil; 113 grams of methamphetamine; 71 opioid pills; eight grams of cannabis; and $3,500 cash proceeds of crime.

Staff Sgt. Jason Walper of the Lethbridge ALERT team told The Herald in a phone interview on Tuesday the accused has been on their radar for some time.

“The individual charged is, we believe, higher up in the food chain in the drug trafficking world in our region and was responsible for providing drugs to street-level traffickers,” he said. “Back in January Lethbridge ALERT had actually charged her with being in possession of what was suspected to be carfentanil after she was arrested returning from Nanton to Lethbridge. She was released on strict release conditions by the courts and has now again re-offended.”

Walper said given the recent spike in overdoses in the community, anytime police can get dangerous drugs like carfentanil out of circulation it is a win for public safety.

“It is good for the community and good for the police resources anytime we can take somebody who is distributing carfentanil or other harmful drugs out of the community,” he said, “and ensure they don’t get into the hands of our youth or other citizens.”

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