Members of the province’s integrated gang enforcement team announced Friday they have shut down a drug trafficking ring operating in Westlock and St. Albert.
Officers with the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) raided three homes in Westlock and one in St. Albert, seizing drugs, weapons and cash and charging eight people.
In total, police seized 10 grams of cocaine, two grams of methamphetamine, 977 grams of marijuana and more than 500 tablets of different prescription drugs.
They also seized a .357 magnum handgun, which had 54 rounds of ammunition, nunchuks, brass knuckles and nearly $9,000 in cash.
In a news release, Staff Sgt. Jim Peebles with ALERT said the raid should serve as notice that the teams do not work only in major centres.
“We also work with rural RCMP detachments throughout the province to target and shut down organizations supplying drugs to their communities.”
ALERT has approximately 400 officers working for it across the province from the RCMP, provincial sheriffs and municipal forces like Calgary and Edmonton
Of the eight people arrested in the raid two are from St. Albert.
Phillip Dale Rombough, 45 is facing six counts of possession for the purposes of trafficking, two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, one count of possession of a restricted firearm, one of possession of a firearm without a license and a single count of possession of the proceeds of crime.
Aaron Deblois, 37, faces a single count of possession for the purposes of trafficking.
Four people from Westlock have also been charged with a variety of offences including trafficking in a controlled substance and breaching bail conditions.
Police were still looking for a woman from Westlock and had sworn out a warrant for her arrest, but she was not in custody as of press time.
There was also no word on bail conditions of the accused or court dates.
