Enough methamphetamine to make more than 45,000 doses has been seized by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, the organization announced in a news release on Friday.
“This amount of meth represents a high degree of community harm,” Supt. Dwayne Lakusta said.
Read more:
Charges laid in what police believe is largest meth bust in Medicine Hat history
On Dec. 30, 2020, ALERT’s organized crime and gang team searched four homes in the Edmonton neighbourhoods of Summerside, Oliver, Strathcona and Rosenthal.
Inside one of the homes, police found 13.77 kilograms of meth.
“This is an amount that is shocking and out of the norm for investigations in the Capital Region,” Isp. Kevin Berge said.
Since 2015, ALERT has seized about 110 kilograms of meth across the province. The police organization officers in other jurisdictions are finding more and more evidence the drugs are coming from Mexican cartels as they extend their reach over the United States.
“We’re simply an extension of that drug network here in Alberta,” Lakusta said.
While ALERT hasn’t laid any charges yet, Berge said this seizure will have a significant short-term effect on the meth trade in Edmonton and the area.
“In this case, our investigators believe we hit the distribution point and stopped a lot of drugs from making their way to Edmonton and outlying areas.”
Read more:
$300,000 in meth, fentanyl and cocaine seized in Calgary drug bust: ALERT
In addition to the meth, ALERT also seized:
- 119.85 grams of cocaine
- 112.2 grams of MDMA
- 4.3 grams of suspected fentanyl
- 63 grams of cannabis resin
- 19 grams of psilocybin mushrooms
- 40 OxyContin tablets
- $8,850 cash
The four-month investigation is ongoing and ALERT said charges are pending.