A man and woman from Leduc and a man from Fort Saskatchewan are facing a slew of charges after an historic drug trafficking investigation in Strathcona County.
Police began investigating in November 2017. On Dec. 15, 2017, search warrants were executed at two different homes, in Sherwood Park and northeast Leduc County.
During the searches, RCMP seized “a large amount of drugs, drug trafficking paraphernalia as well as a loaded handgun, a loaded shotgun, two Edmonton Police Service (EPS) vests, ammunition and an operational signal jammer,” an RCMP news release said.
Some of the items taken by police during the searches include 211 grams of crack/cocaine, a loaded tactical shotgun, a crossbow, a variety of steroids and 110 Percocet pills.
Officers also seized approximately $442,875 in cash, which is the biggest cash bust for this drug unit.
“It would be naive to believe that there wouldn’t be some organized nature to this considering the cash value that was seized as well as the amount of various drugs and restricted and prohibited firearms,” Staff Sgt. Andy Kyle said.
Two children — aged six and 10 — were living at the Leduc County home “where loaded and accessible firearms were present,” RCMP said.
Kyle said the children were related to the individuals charged.
“There was no indication to believe that there was any difficulties with the children,” he added. “We are consulting with partner agencies. Obviously, child and family services is one of those agencies.”
RCMP said the EPS armour and a tactical vest were stolen on Aug. 3, 2017.
“It is always concerning when a member of the public has possession of police equipment,” Kyle said.
In a statement, EPS said it was grateful to the RCMP for its investigation and for recovering the police vests.
“The EPS began investigating the theft of two EPS vests in August 2017 following a break and enter to an off-site police facility. The suspects involved in the break-and-enter were identified quickly and were arrested and charged.”
William Steven Whiteford, 34, is facing dozens of charges, including eight counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of careless use of a firearm, and one count of unlawfully possessing body armour.
Kala Julian Diehl, 30, is also facing a number of charges, including two counts of unsafe storage of a firearm, three counts of trafficking property obtained by crime and eight counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
Whiteford has been remanded and is set to appear in court on Feb. 7. Diehl has been released and is set to appear in court on Feb. 7.
“These individuals have had police contact previously in their history,” Kyle said. Court documents show Whiteford had a lengthy criminal history.
Jadon Jason Saxton, 25, of Fort Saskatchewan has been charged with four counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. He was released and is set to appear in court on March 7.
Comments