No bail for man charged in record drug bust

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on March 4, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 34-year-old man charged in relation to one of the city’s largest drug busts, hoped to be released from remand custody Thursday, but a judge rejected his bid for freedom.
Rodney, who remains at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, had a bail hearing Thursday in Lethbridge provincial court, where his lawyer tried, but failed, to convince Judge John Maher to release the accused on several conditions pending trial.
Although details of the bail hearing is subject to a publication ban, police reported that on Dec. 20 of last year that they and ALERT Lethbridge’s organized crime team seized more than $1 million worth of drugs and cash, after searching two vehicles, a home in the London Road area and a garage in the neighbourhood of Winston Churchill High School.
Police found four firearms, including a prohibited sawed-off shotgun and a loaded handgun that had been reported stolen from Redcliff, and they seized two vehicles, $79,000 in cash, and 5.2 kg of methamphetamine, 3.2 kg of cocaine, 1.6 kg of fentanyl powder, 418 grams of ketamine, and 35 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.
Rodney, who appeared in court by CCTV from the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, is charged with five counts of drug possession for the purpose of trafficking, two counts each of unlawful storage of a firearm, knowingly possessing a prohibited or restricted weapon, knowingly possessing an unauthorized firearm, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, and single counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, possession of a firearm obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited weapon, and use of a firearm while committing an offence. He is also charged with breach of probation stemming from a firearm prohibition in 2014.
The matter is scheduled to return to court March 16.

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