Approximately $27,000 worth of drugs were seized, along with several weapons, as ALERT concluded a short-term drug trafficking investigation in Red Deer. Four people were arrested on Sept. 19, 2019. (ALERT)

By rdnewsNOW staff

province-wide crime crackdowns

ALERT looks back on busy year in 2019

Jan 9, 2020 | 2:24 PM

Officials with Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) say they achieved one of their most successful years ever in 2019.

Over the calendar year, ALERT teams across the province laid 1,402 criminal charges against 241 suspects; took 92 firearms out of the hands of gang members and drug dealers; seized more than $4 million in proceeds of crime; and removed nearly $13 million worth of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine from the streets of Alberta communities.

“Since being appointed chief executive officer in August 2019, I’ve been very impressed with ALERT’s operations and the results the organization is able to achieve,” says ALERT CEO Supt. Dwayne Lakusta, in a release. “It’s a fast-paced, ever-changing landscape, but our front-line investigators and support staff behind the scenes do exceptional work to keep up and deliver the results Albertans expect.”

ALERT is mandated to address organized and serious crime across Alberta, with regional offices located in Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer.

Incidents of note in Red Deer over the past year include: child porn charges laid against 34-year-old Christopher Juneau of Eckville last January, members of a Red Deer outlaw motorcycle club charged with drug trafficking last May, and the arrest of four suspected drug traffickers in June where more than $130,000 worth of drugs and cash was seized from residences in Red Deer and Red Deer County.

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Other incidents included a joint investigation with the Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) last July where two children were rescued, another where more than a dozen guns were seized from a residence in Clearview Ridge in September, and another in September where approximately $27,000 worth of drugs were seized, along with several weapons.

A breakdown of statistics by region for the 2019 calendar year and a compilation of highlights is available on ALERT’s website and YouTube channel.

However, the biggest highlight of the year for ALERT was Project Coyote, a joint investigation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that resulted in record amounts of cocaine and fentanyl pills seized.

All told, over the course of two years, Project Coyote resulted in the seizure of $15 million worth of drugs, including 81.5 kilograms of cocaine in Houston, Texas, and 250,000 fentanyl pills in a Calgary apartment.

“Project Coyote was a lengthy, complex investigation, and I applaud our team in Calgary for their ongoing commitment to the investigation,” adds Lakusta. “It’s a significant bust, and a great example of the efforts taken by our teams to fight organized crime.”

Some of ALERT’s other successes in 2019 include a firearms straw purchaser foiled in Grande Prairie; a B.C.-Edmonton drug pipeline cut off; a record meth seizure in Medicine Hat and an arrest made in Lethbridge in a series of vehicle thefts.

With new funding foreshadowed in the recent provincial budget and ALERT’s successes from 2019 to build upon, Lakusta is looking forward to expanding on the organization’s important work in 2020.

“We are excited to enhance opportunities to make communities across Alberta safer,”says Lakusta. “By working closely with other law enforcement agencies and community partners, we will continue to work toward our goals of disrupting and dismantling organized crime.”

Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.