A lobster buyer in Meteghan, N.S., is looking for heightened policing aimed at organized crime after a bullet was fired into his home on Saturday night.
Geoffrey Jobert, owner of the family-run Lobster Hub Inc., said today he believes the attack on his home is the latest example of intimidation against some buyers and processors by organized criminals with links to illegal lobster purchasing in southwestern Nova Scotia.
He says he did not hear anything unusual Saturday night but he woke up on Sunday to see bullet damage in his home, including a hole in a living room sofa where he and his girlfriend sometimes sit and chat.
The business owner says he started receiving threats after he began buying lobster last season from licensed, commercial harvesters who were no longer willing to provide their catch to facilities allegedly purchasing illegally caught lobster.
The RCMP issued a statement on Sunday saying they had received a report of shots fired and were investigating, asking the public to come forward with information.
Crime statistics provided by RCMP indicate that over the past two years there has been an increase in assaults and arson intended to damage property in Meteghan, including the torching of an RCMP police car earlier this year.
Supt. Jason Popik, the RCMP district policing officer in the southwest Nova Scotia region, said in a recent interview that “there is organized crime within Meteghan,” and he says he’s trying to increase the number of officers in the town.