Known local drug offender gets conditional bail for new charges

Authorities have released information about a drug bust and arrests made last month while one of the men arrested was granted bail Thursday.

Aaron Hotchen, 59, was one of four individuals named by the ALERT crime investigations team which said officers intercepted drug shipments consisting of a pound of cocaine and a pound of methamphetamine on April 11 and 30.

In custody since then, Hotchen was granted bail Thursday morning on condition that he remain under 24-hour house arrest at a location outside Medicine Hat.

ALERT detailed the arrests, made in mid-April, in a press release Thursday morning. Officials say drugs valued at $90,000 were seized in two vehicle stops with the aid of Medicine Hat police and Brooks RCMP during an investigation that began in February.

Suspected drugs taken were 500 grams of methamphetamine and 573 grams of cocaine, according to police.

Hotchen and a co-accused, Melissa Shpak, 34, of Medicine Hat, have appeared in Court of Justice at Medicine Hat in the last few weeks on charges of possessing narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Two others named it the ALERT press release are Terry Van Huizen, 31, and Heidi Clampitt, 25, both of Medicine Hat. Their specific charges and the status in the courts in not immediately clear.