Brad Lundeen, Inspector of ALERT Regional Teams, holding one of four prohibited firearms seized following a two-month investigation and displayed at the Red Deer RCMP detachment on Tuesday. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

ALERT: Alberta Law Enforcement Response

Over $100,000 worth of drugs and four guns seized from repeat offender in Olds

Dec 6, 2022 | 4:20 PM

Four guns and over $100,000 worth of drugs have been seized from a repeat offender in Olds, according to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT).

On Tuesday, Brad Lundeen, Inspector of ALERT Regional Teams, displayed the seized items at the Red Deer RCMP Detachment (4601 51 Ave), which included:

• 285 grams of fentanyl
• 201 grams of cocaine
• 697 grams of methamphetamine
• 2,900 ml of GHB
• 372 hydromorphine pills, including roughly 300 other prescription pills
• Four firearms
• $8,445 in cash

ALERT says the investigation began in September 2022 after the team received information about drug trafficking in the community. Lundeen states 15 officers from ALERT Red Deer’s organized crime team were utilized for the investigation as well as the Olds RCMP detachment and one officer from the Sundre detachment.

On November 24, officials say the ALERT team and officers from both RCMP detachments searched two homes and one vehicle.

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ALERT confirms the suspect, 33-year-old Eric Becker, is bound by a lifetime firearms prohibition. Of the four firearms in his possession, they confirm two were stolen handguns (pistols) from separate law enforcement jurisdictions. Lundeen says drug trafficking activities, particularly large scale ones, usually entail a criminal network beyond city boundaries. He says the two handguns could have been previously legally purchased with a restricted license prior to the federal handgun freeze.

The two other guns, he said, included a revolver, prohibited due to its large size in length, and a riffle, modified for a shorter barrel.

(ALERT)

ALERT confirmed the firearms will be submitted for further forensic testing and ballistics analysis within the province to determine if they were previously used in any other crimes. Lundeen expects the process to take roughly one month; however, some labs currently have a backlog in testing.

Becker is facing 19 charges and was scheduled to make a court appearance in Didsbury Provincial Court on December 5, 2022. He also faces six breach charges related to a previous and similar ALERT investigation in February 2022 and was also charged in November 2021, according to Lundeen.

The main concern, he says, is that the dealings are taking place at a wholesale volume with a variety of types of street drugs in the same location. He said fentanyl in particular is a call for concern with its high rates of overdose deaths.

Although Lundeen says they are not seeing more of the drugs than usual, he does say the seizure was considerable for a small community.

“The wholesale of drugs of this volume in the community is impactful to those communities as the consumers are often addictions-based,” he said. “That then causes escalation within rural crime in the Olds area as it relates to property crimes and thefts based on those addictions. Seizures of this volume have a significant impact on that industry and the ability to obtain these dugs within the Olds and central Alberta area.”

Olds is located approximately 60 kilometres south of Red Deer.

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

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of some of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime. They have eight regional based teams across the province.