Drugs the focal point for SW AB charges and for a warning from RCMP in SW Sask.

Two men from Siksika Nation were in court last week charged with gun-point robbery of a cannabis store in Gleichen last month, according the RCMP detachment in the town.

Brandon Royal, 23, and Kyler Wolfear, 24, appeared in Gleichen Court of Justice charged with robbery, wearing disguises and firearms charges. Both were held for the hearing after Mounties executed search warrants related to a Nov. 27 robbery of a cannabis outlet in Gleichen where two men brandished a firearm and demanded merchandise.

The RCMP’s Southern District Crime Reduction Unit took over the investigation and arrested Royal on Dec. 7 and Wolfear on Dec. 12.

Drug warning

Naloxone-resistant fentanyl is circulating in southern Saskatchewan, RCMP officials there announced this week. Moose Jaw and

Swift Current areas are highlighted in a warning to drug users that a batch of the street narcotic opioid likely contains benzodiazepines or xylazine. Those compounds increase the risk of overdose that cannot be reversed by naloxone, a fast acting, widely available drug that can stop overdoses.

The RCMP is recommending that naloxone still be administered if an overdose is occurring and call 911.

“The source and composition of this potentially-lethal drug is under active investigation, but it was important for us to immediately alert the public of the danger,” said Insp. Jeff Smoliak from Saskatchewan RCMP’s Saskatchewan Enforcement Response Team.

“This fentanyl strain is particularly alarming because it doesn’t look any different than others circulating. But if you take it and experience an overdose, it may be irreversible.”