DIDSBURY — Recent drug busts in Didsbury and area are having a positive impact on the community at large, helping remove not only those offenders directly involved but also discouraging others from coming to the region, says the loca RCMP detachment's Staff Sgt. Chad Fournier.
Following a March 21 raid in town, Fournier said, “This is another significant drug bust in the area in the last few months. The disruption in criminal activity has had a profound effect on the community.”
In an interview last week, he expanded on his comments.
“We have seen a decrease in prolific offenders in the Didsbury detachment area,” he said. “When we shut down these drug houses, they are also flop houses for other prolific offenders and other drug users. So when we shut them down, then those people are not coming to the area.”
RCMP officers in the area, in some cases working with outside police units, had made several large drug busts in recent months.
• On March 21, police raided a local residence and seized more than 700 grams of cocaine and other drugs, as well as $15,000 in cash. A 23-year-old man faces charges in that case.
• Also in March, police raided a Mountain View County residence, seizing drugs and cash valued at more than $160,000. They also seized a number of firearms. Four Didsbury adults are facing charges in that case.
• In February, police executed a search warrant on a local residence, seizing heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, other drugs, and counterfeit bank notes. Two adults have been charged in that case.
• In January, police raided a local residence, seizing fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, GHB, morphine, hydromorphone and psyilocybin. A 50-year-old man faces charges in that case.
Local tips have been an important part of the recent success, Fournier said.
“We’ve had anonymous tips and calls from the public, and with that information and our own investigational procedures, we are able to obtain warrants and execute warrants,” he said.
Didsbury RCMP officers have been working successfully with other police units such as the Crime Reduction Unit based in Airdrie, he said.
In other police news, policing priorities surveys recently conducted online by the three RCMP departments in the district have now been completed and are being examined by each detachment.
The surveys were posted on local municipalities' websites and asked respondents, in part, to rate policing priorities such as crimes against persons and property crimes.
Staff Sgt. Fournier says he should be able to speak about the Didsbury detachment area results some time this week.
The Didsbury RCMP detachment covers Didsbury, Carstairs as well as portions of Mountain View County.
