Police are hoping to find the owners of a number of collector’s items that were seized from a southwest Calgary home. Investigators believe the stolen items were offered as payment in exchange for drugs.
“What we believe is that the original owners of these items were victims of a crime and the people that stole the items exchanged them for drugs,” said Insp. Joe Brar of the Calgary police investigative operations system. “But that’s still under investigation–that’s why we would like to speak to the owners.”
Officers made an arrest after watching a suspect conduct “various drug transactions” over a nine-day period.
The tactical unit searched the home in the 1800 block of 34 Ave. S.W on Feb. 28. Police said officers recovered a cache of drugs, weapons and stolen property that included the collector’s items.
The collector’s items stolen from the home included:
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- An autographed and framed Gordie Howe Jersey
- An autographed Tragically Hip picture
- An autographed Sass Jordan electric guitar
- Vintage comic books
- Hockey and trading cars
- Antique watches
The drugs police recovered from the home had a street value of about $23,000 and included 11 grams of crack cocaine, 32 grams of powdered cocaine, 156 grams of methamphetamine, 13 grams of powdered fentanyl and 29 grams of cannabis. Drug paraphernalia, including scales and baggies, was also recovered along with counterfeit U.S. currency, two mountain bikes and a cache of weapons including three handguns, a rifle and a shotgun, as well as knives and swords.
Police say two of the guns were stolen.
“I don’t know the value of the guns, but our investigators have researched some of the property and some of the unique items in attempts to identify them, and we found trading cards of Marilyn Monroe that are valued at about $600… and comic books that are valued in the hundreds of dollars,” Brar said.
John Christopher Fraser, 43, faces a string of drugs and weapons-related charges. He’s also charged with possession of stolen property under $5,000 and possession of counterfeit money.
Police are asking anyone who had these collector’s items taken from them to call the Calgary Police Service non-emergency line at 403-266-1234.
With files from Kylee Williams
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