Drugs, weapons and $30,000 in cash were seized in Kelowna during a four-day crime blitz, say police.
According to B.C.’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), officers stopped 100 vehicles and interacted with 145 people, the majority connected to the street-level drug trade.
“Of concern were the multiple weapons seized, including two BB guns that appeared altered to shoot live ammunition,” said the CFSEU, which sent its Uniform Gang Enforcement Team (UGET) to the Central Okanagan.
“Taking these potential weapons off the street was integral to the UGET violence suppression efforts in Kelowna.”
The CFSEU says while UGET is based in the Lower Mainland, it is regularly deployed to other B.C. communities to provide short-term support to police agencies.
“UGET partnered with the Kelowna RCMP to ensure the team was briefed on local crime hot spots,” said the CFSEU, “and received up-to-date intelligence to help direct their enforcement activities.”
The overall results from the four-day sweep are still pending, but UGET says multiple arrests were made related to ongoing drug trafficking.
The CFSEU did not give exact numbers about how many weapons were seized, nor the number of arrests or amount of drugs seized.
However, they said UGET officers located a stolen vehicle and arrested the occupant on a warrant for a robbery committed in Penticton.
“The deployment of our overt UGET officers to communities throughout the province is one of the core activities that allows CFSEU to contribute to the overall success of reducing gang-related violence,” said Alison Laurin of the CFSEU.
Kelowna RCMP Insp. Beth McAndie said the local detachment was appreciative of UGET’s efforts.
“With the support of CFSEU’s UGET, which focused on proactive and high visibility policing to disrupt the local street-level drug trade, Kelowna’s general duty members could focus on priority issues in our city during this time.”