Police cars and a tactical vehicle surrounded a home on Eldorado Drive Thursday morning as part of a drug investigation by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team.
ALERT– a policing unit made of municipal police, RCMP and sheriffs who specialize in taking down serious and organized crime – confirmed that the search of #10 Eldorado Drive was in relation to a drug investigation.
Area residents said at least six police vehicles – marked and unmarked – as well as a police tactical vehicle enclosed the area around the home starting around 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Police blocked off Eldorado Drive from Erin Ridge Drive to Essex Close to incoming traffic for nearly two hours.
Neighbours interviewed by the Gazette said they heard a large “boom” sound initiated by police. An RCMP tactical armoured vehicle was fitted with a ladder on top to allow officers to enter through a second floor window at the front of the house.
The window and front door have since been boarded up.
Long-time Erin Ridge residents said the house has seen several tenants move in during the last five years. Neighbours did not know if the house is currently occupied.
Some said police have raided the home before, allegedly for drug offences.
Neighbours said the home was gutted and completely renovated two to three years ago. The house is currently valued at $591,000.
ALERT spokesperson Mike Tucker said the investigation is ongoing and they will not release any further information at this time.
He confirmed that ALERT officers searched a Lacombe Park Estates home on Wednesday as part of a drug investigation. The two incidents were not related.
Tucker assures area residents that there is no immediate danger.
In 2012, ALERT shut down a drug trafficking ring operating in Westlock and St. Albert. A total of eight people were arrested in the raid, which saw the seizure of drugs, guns and cash. Two were from St. Albert.
