The latest in the Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) efforts to crack down on knives being sold at convenience stores has resulted in dozens of prohibited weapons and illegal smokes being seized from a shop north of downtown.
A search was carried out on Dec. 17, 2024 at Food Mart 97, a convenience store along 97 Street near 107 Avenue in the McCauley neighbourhood, that EPS said was known to be selling prohibited knives and contraband cigarettes.
The EPS Community Safety Teams (previously known as Healthy Streets Operations Centre or HSOC) found 71 prohibited knives, including a variety of butterfly and spring-assisted knives.
Police said they also found eight prohibited brass knuckles with spring-assisted knives concealed within, known as “trench knives.”
“These weapons, including the so-called ‘trench knives’ that were designed as combat knives during the World Wars, contribute to the violence and disorder we are seeing in parts of our inner city,” said EPS Sgt. Dana Gehring.
“As part of the Community Safety Teams’ mandate to promote healthy streets in Edmonton, we investigate businesses that are selling prohibited weapons and remove these dangerous items from store shelves.”
At the food mart, police also found 172 packages of contraband cigarettes (in total, 3,470 cigarettes) and more than $18,000 in cash proceeds of crime.
The December seizure comes four months after another store just a block away was shut down by Alberta Health Services for not having a food handling permit.
That business in question was Bibi 16 Convenience Store, located at 10562 96 St.
The AHS move came on the same day police raided the business and found a plethora of illegal tobacco and street drugs, weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash police believe came from criminal operations.
Police at the time said officers were seeing a disturbing trend with convenience stores openly selling drug paraphernalia, weapons and contraband tobacco and then dabbling into the sale of illicit drugs — threatening the safety of Chinatown and other central Edmonton neighbourhoods like McCauley.
Last spring, a group of residents in central Edmonton called on the city to introduce restrictions because they said some weapons are too easily accessible, citing knives available for purchase at convenience stores.
While discussing the issue this past fall, city councillors heard in 2023 there were 532 knife-related events in the downtown core alone last year, but knife issues have been reported city-wide.
City council ended up voting unanimously to ban the sale of knives in convenience stores — but the change wasn’t immediate.
Because the federal government has jurisdiction over criminal matters when it comes to knives and prohibited weapons, options at the municipal level are limited to changing business licence rules and lobbying higher levels of government to change the law.
City administration was directed in October to create a new convenience store category within the business licence bylaw.
Administration told councillors that was the only path for a municipality, as convenience stores aren’t breaking the law by stocking them. Under the Criminal Code, most of the knives being stocked are not considered prohibited weapons — even if they were then being used for criminal purposes.
The bylaw has not yet been drafted so it can be approved by council. According to city administration, it will then take two years for the bylaw to be fully implemented as licences come up for renewal.
After the December raid, three people were charged.
Police said Food Mart 97 store owner, Okbamichael Tes Haile, 44 and two employees, Eyob Asgedom, 29, and Danial Gebrihiwet, 36, were charged with weapons trafficking, possession of stolen property over $5,000, fraud under $5,000 and contraband tobacco trafficking.
Anyone with information about the illegal sale of weapons is asked to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone.
Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.p3tips.com/250.