Five people are facing 76 charges after the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams conducted an investigation that resulted in the seizure of more than $200,000 in stolen property and 63 firearms, the agency said Wednesday.
On Sept. 10, three locations in Taber, Alta., were searched and the five were arrested, ALERT said. Police suspect the group is responsible for break-and-enter thefts in Taber, Vauxhall, Lethbridge, Stirling, Vulcan, Bow Island, Seven Persons, Coaldale and Barnwell.
During the seizures, police found the following stolen property:
- seven vehicles
- a utility trailer
- licence plates
- lawnmowers
- compressors
- generators
- power tools
“ALERT was successful in disrupting a group of individuals who were impacting rural communities with thefts and property crime offences,” said ALERT CEO Supt. Dwayne Lakusta.
Police also allege the five were involved in the trafficking of firearms. Sixty-three guns were seized as well as about 60 disassembled firearms and parts and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Police charged Jason Pizzati, 46, Cornelius Wolf, 38, Dustyn McCracken, 20, Greg Kosowan, 72, and Heinrich Wolf, 35. All five men are from Taber and face a variety of charges including trafficking stolen property, trafficking firearms, possession of proceeds of crime and fraud.
“We will continue to work with our policing partners and Crown prosecutors to ensure these individuals are held accountable,” Lakusta said.
ALERT’s Southeast Alberta Property Crime Unit partnered with the Taber Police Service, Taber RCMP and the Medicine Hat Police Service on the investigation.
Taber is about 263 kilometres southeast of Calgary.