(rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

$19,000 IN STOLEN CANNABIS

Stolen cannabis products, firearms, and more seized in Red Deer RCMP bust

Jul 10, 2024 | 1:36 PM

Red Deer RCMP’s Crime Reduction Team (CRT) seized about $19,000 worth of stolen cannabis products, multiple firearms, ammunition, and other stolen property after executing a search warrant on a residence in the South Hill area on July 3.

With assistance from the Red Deer General Investigation Section, emergency response teams, a K-9 unit, and a member of the Wetaskiwin RCMP, police searched the residence and arrested two suspects without injury.

Matthew Stewart, 38, and Tia Cobbe, also 38, both of Red Deer, were previously known to police. They were arrested, taken before a justice of the peace, and remanded into custody.

Stewart was charged with the following offences:

• Trafficking in property obtained by crime over $5000
• Unsafe storage of firearms
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm
• Possession of a restricted or prohibited firearm, two counts
• Possession of weapon obtained by crime, two counts
• Possession of a firearm when knowing possession is unauthorized, two counts
• Weapons possession contrary to order, two counts
• Possess body armour without a valid permit
• Possession of property obtained by crime less than $5000, six counts
• Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000, three counts
• Possess break-in instruments
• Possession of Methamphetamine

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Cobbe was charged with the following offences:

• Trafficking in property obtained by crime over $5000
• Unsafe storage of firearms
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm, three counts
• Possession of firearm without licence/registrations, two counts
• Possession of weapon obtain by crime, two counts
• Possess body armour without a valid permit
• Possession of property obtained by crime less than $5000, five counts
• Possession of property obtained by crime over $5000, two counts
• Possession of methamphetamine

“People who engage in property crime often work together in networks; mostly informal, not like gangs, but people who are involved in this kind of stuff know each other,” explained Sgt. Robert Daisley of the CRT. “I think, although it’s not organized crime, it will have an impact on that social network of people who are involved in these.”

The cannabis products are believed to be connected to a series of break-ins at a retail location in Wetaskiwin.

“As a business, when you lose $19,000 worth of product in a break-and-enter that has a significant impact on your ability as a business owner to run your business. Recovering some of the product will hopefully help to mitigate that,” said Daisley.

Two of the firearms and a set of body armour were confirmed to be stolen from a Sylvan Lake residence. All the firearms seized were non-restricted weapons, except for a sawed-off shotgun. The suspects were not authorized to possess non-restricted weapons, and sawing off the barrel of a shotgun is a prohibited weapon modification.

“It’s obviously not great for people who are not supposed to have guns to have large quantities of guns,” said Daisley. “We’re happy to be able to take that stuff away from the bad people and get what we can back to the good people.”

Authorities are in the process of identifying the owners of some of the unexpected items found, such as a collection of hockey cards, including a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.

“The most important thing I would take away from this is that it’s really difficult for us to do our jobs without help from members of the public and if there is something going on in your neighbourhood, it’s really important that you pass that on,” said Daisley.

Stewart is scheduled to appear in court on July 30, 2024, while Cobbe is scheduled to appear on July 12, 2024. Both appearances will be at the Alberta Court of Justice in Red Deer.

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