Officials with ALERT announced Wednesday they have arrested four people with $1.6 million worth of narcotics that were part of a conspiracy to traffic drugs throughout Western Canada. - SUBMITTED PHOTO
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A drug network that spanned from British Columbia to Winnipeg has been dismantled, police say, after an 18-month investigation that began with initial arrests in Medicine Hat.
Officials with ALERT provincial policing unit announced Wednesday they have arrested four people with $1.6 million worth of narcotics that were part of a conspiracy to traffic drugs throughout Western Canada.
Those four individuals were based mainly in Calgary, but Medicine Hat police are credited with providing a key starting point for the wide-ranging investigation, called “Project Motor” by authorities.
Police in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and the special units of the RCMP in Alberta and British Columbia also took part.
“Our officers were in it directly since the beginning, they initiated the file and it’s a significant file that will disrupt the drug trade in the province,” said Medicine Hat police chief Mike Worden.
“The investigation really expanded, leading to new investigations and up and up the line.”
On Wednesday, ALERT officials police said they had made four arrests after executing search warrants in Calgary, Edmonton and Fort St. John, B.C. They seized 11 firearms, nearly 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly five kilograms of fentanyl – enough to produce 50,000 doses for street-level sales – along with 50 grams of cocaine and $82,500 in cash. The total estimated street value of the drugs is set at $1.6 million.
That all leads back to arrests made in Medicine Hat about 18 months ago, said officials.
Early 2020 was a particularly busy period for meth seizures by the Medicine Hat Police Service. Along with members of ALERT and regional agencies, six separate drugs busts in the first six months of that year netted a total of more than three kilograms of meth.
That included a local record haul of 1.7 kilograms, and amounts of other drugs, including fentanyl, carfentanyl, cocaine and magic mushrooms.
A total of 17 different individuals were charged in six incidents.
Police won’t say if, how or which are related to current arrests, but ALERT states that investigators were able to trace supply and “leverage” information to learn about what they allege is a wide ranging conspiracy to distribute drugs from the west coast to Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.
Four people have been arrested and charged with a total of 37 drug and weapons offences:
– Matthew Edwards, 42, of Calgary;
– Kevin Hind, 27, of Calgary;
– Karnvir Sandhu, 25, of Calgary, and;
– Atta Ui Waheed Sheikh, 34, of Ft. St. John, B.C.
Police have also issued a warrant for 40-year-old, Calgary man Dillon Burgie, who is believed to be in British Columbia.
