Two former St. Albert residents have been charged with drug and firearm-related offences after a police search found cash, drugs and guns in an Edmonton home.
Daniel Timothy Brower, 26, and Carly Diana Bodnarek, 20, both formerly of St. Albert, were arrested and charged in Edmonton Thursday morning by St. Albert and Edmonton police officers.
The charges came as a result of a two-week investigation, said Cst. Janice Schoepp of the St. Albert RCMP. Police had received tips that a drug dealer was operating in St. Albert that led them to get a warrant to search a home in Edmonton.
Police searched that home at 11413 138 Ave. on Thursday morning and discovered $6,835 in cash, a very small amount of marijuana (less than 30 grams) and about six ounces of cocaine, the latter of which was valued at $17,000.
“For St. Albert, that’s a substantial amount,” Schoepp said.
Police also found a sawed-off shotgun with a defaced serial number and a black .45-calibre Norinco handgun with a clip of ammunition. The guns were not loaded, and the handgun was not registered. It is illegal to own a sawed-off shotgun, Schoepp noted, and illegal to own a handgun of that type without a license.
Police also seized about a dozen cellphones and a 2000 328 CI BMW as part of their search. Two people in the house during the search were arrested without incident.
Brower and Bodnarek have been charged with one count each of: possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of cannabis marijuana under 30 grams, possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000, careless storage of a prohibited and a restricted weapon, possessing a firearm with a defaced serial number and possessing one with readily accessible ammunition.
Both also face two counts of possession of a firearm without a license and while knowing they did not have a license for them. Brower has also been charged with trafficking cocaine.
Both were released on cash bail and are set to appear before St. Albert Provincial Court on Jan. 9.
