Editor’s update: The charges against David Brazeau were stayed by the Crown in January 2017.
Calgary police and RCMP seized an unspecified amount of drugs, firearms and several stolen vehicles during an all-day raid of an Airdrie-area acreage suspected of being used in a fencing operation. Three people were taken into custody.
Police entered the property near Yankee Valley Road and Range Road 291 at around 5 a.m.
They made the arrests without incident, with help from RCMP tactical officers.
Search and rescue crews were called in to do a grid search because of the large size of the acreage, police said. It’s a 12-acre property with Quonset huts, trailers and many other outbuildings.
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Police said Wednesday the following stolen property was recovered:
- 2001 VW Jetta
- 2006 Honda TRX350 quad
- 2004 Honda CRF50 dirt bike
- 1999 Pace American cargo trailer
- Chevy Silverado
- Suzuki GSX FSA13 motorcycle
- Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle
- Honda CRF 250 dirt bike
- Stolen licence plates
Police said the following drugs and weapons were also seized:
- ‘I couldn’t stop crying’: Memorial grows for 5-year-old boy killed in home
- Hundreds defrauded in door-to-door Ontario scam, Canada-wide warrants issued
- Quebec’s public security minister accuses gangs of using teens ‘to do their dirty work’
- Associate of Frenchman on trial for mass rape admits to copycat abuse
- .22-calibre rifle with homemade suppressor
- more than 100 rounds of various ammunition
- marijuana worth $2,680
- heroin worth $575
- crystal meth worth $240
- two pellet guns
- collapsible baton
- bear spray
Police said the goods they seized are likely stolen property from the city of Calgary that was being stored at and sold from the property.
David Jonathan Brazeau, 26, of Airdrie, and Justin Christopher Paquette, 25, of no fixed address, were charged with numerous weapons, drugs and stolen property offences. Paquette is also charged with being unlawfully at large. Calgarian Matthew Brandon Cooke, 26, was charged with outstanding warrants, police said Wednesday.
Neighbours told Global News police have been at the acreage many times over the past five years.
“They did a bit of a stakeout I think two years ago on them, and there’s just police always coming there,” said Mauri, who lives nearby and did not give her last name. “(The acreage residents have) a bit of a reputation for dealing drugs and stuff out of there.”
Another neighbour also suspected unusual activity at the property, and was concerned to learn of the nature of the seizures.
“It’s just a little bit nerve-racking to know that it’s just down the road from where my kids play and my dogs run,” Lindsay Jarmain said.
With files from Global’s Erika Tucker
Editor’s note: This story was originally published Tuesday April 12, but updated Wednesday to reflect the property that was seized and the names of the people charged.
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