Drug enforcement

RCMP’s downtown safety unit targets street-level drug traffickers

Apr 28, 2021 | 1:38 PM

PRINCE GEORGE —Success for the RCMP’s downtown safety unit after several arrests this month.

Cst. Jennifer Cooper says the unit targeted street-level drug traffickers leading to several arrests from April 14 to the 24.

On April 14, the Downtown Safety Unit responded to a call from a concerned resident who witnessed overt drug use on the 1400 block of 9th Avenue. Downtown Safety Unit members attended the location and located three people with whom they were familiar from similar interactions. The investigators witnessed a hand-to-hand transaction and arrested the three individuals. When police searched one of the males, they found used scales, containers, a phone, and a quantity of suspected fentanyl. The amount of fentanyl located has a street value of $3500. Police released the individuals at that time, pending the results of their investigation.

On April 17, Cooper says members of the Downtown Safety Unit were patrolling the City Centre in an unmarked police vehicle when they witnessed two people complete a hand-to-hand transaction in the area of 1st Avenue and George Street. The two people were arrested for Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking. Members located a quantity of suspected fentanyl, cash, and a phone and used scales. The value of the drugs in this instance was $300. Police released the individuals pending the results of this investigation.

On April 24, while conducting patrols in the downtown area, Cooper says members of the Downtown Safety Unit pulled over a vehicle for an observed Motor Vehicle Act infraction in the area of 1st Avenue and George Street. When police approached the vehicle, the driver and passengers began to argue verbally with them. Police arrested all involved for Obstructing a Peace Officer and a search of the vehicle located another quantity of suspected fentanyl, a large quantity of suspected methamphetamine, a replica firearm, over $1500 in cash, OC spray and a phone. The street value of the drugs seized is $3500. One of the males arrested in this instance was also the subject of the Downtown Safety Unit file on April 14th.

Of particular concern for the RCMP is the high quantity of suspected fentanyl seized which is estimated to be 100 times more potent than morphine.