Officers in Calgary and Edmonton have teamed up to take down an inter-province drug trafficking ring.
Investigators are calling the project by drug enforcement team ALERT their largest seizure, since the organization’s inception in 2006.
Officers were tipped off several months ago, about a large amount of cocaine being moved from British Columbia to the Calgary area.
In January, police searched the baggage of a passenger arriving at the Calgary International Airport from BC, and found 12 kilograms of cocaine.
At the same time, a team in Edmonton seized almost 5 kilograms after searching a vehicle and two homes.
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Despite the two busts, the drug trafficking group continued to operate until mid-February, when police searched a tractor trailer unit in the Calgary area. Inside it, police found 11 kilograms of cocaine.
In total, police took $2.5 million worth of drugs off city streets and charged six people from Airdrie, Edmonton and Vancouver.
During the Calgary investigation, the following people were charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime:
Trieu Minh Nguyen, a 28-year-old Airdrie resident
Khanh Duy Pham, a 21-year-old Airdrie resident
Amir Rashidinejad, a 43-year-old Vancouver resident
The Edmonton investigation led to 36 charges against three residents:
Sean Moore, age 22
Grant Lewis, age 29
Tawnee Mihalea, age 21
Charges include possession for the purpose of trafficking, production of a controlled substance, and a number of firearm-related offences, such as possession of a restricted firearm and possession of a firearm with an altered, defaced or removed serial number.
The investigation continues in BC, as investigators try and find the source of the cocaine.
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