A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for a man accused of being part of an Edmonton-based drug ring that had a cell in Red Deer.
The organized crime and gang team from Edmonton’s Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) arrested four men in Edmonton and are seeking one more, David Nguyen, 31, of Edmonton. Nguyen is believed to have fled the country.
Nguyen is allegedly part of a drug ring that operated out of Edmonton and supplied smaller cells in Red Deer and Grande Prairie.
Last November, Edmonton ALERT officers searched three homes in Edmonton and stopped targeted vehicles in Red Deer and Whitecourt as part of an operation to break up an inter-provincial drug trafficking network.
Weapons and more than $1 million in drugs were found by police.
Police seized three handguns, 645 rounds of ammunition and $16,255 in cash along with a large amount of drugs including: 8,578 grams of methamphetamine, 1,317 grams of fentanyl, 2,850 millilitres of GHB; three grams of cocaine, 57 opioid pills, 17,260 grams of buffing agents, and 929 grams of unknown powders.
ALERT said one of the firearms is believed to have been created using 3-D printing technology and was equipped with a suppression device. The firearms were to undergo further analysis and ballistics testing.
“ALERT’s investigation revealed the Edmonton-based group was aggressive in supplying smaller cells in Grande Prairie and Red Deer,” said ALERT Edmonton Insp. Kevin Berge when announcing the drug and weapons bust. “By leveraging our criminal intelligence, and coordinating ALERT’s resources, we were able to undermine their operations by intercepting significant shipments of harmful drugs.”
Thirty drug and weapons charges have been laid against five suspects, including a Grande Prairie man, 22; two Surrey, B.C. men, aged 27 and 30, and a 31-year-old man from Edmonton. Nguyen is the fifth suspect.
The 30-year-old Surrey man has been charged with recruitment of members for a criminal organization, a charge rarely laid in Canada. It is alleged the suspect recruited people in B.C.’s Lower Mainland to sell drugs in Alberta.
Anyone with information on Nguyen’s whereabouts should call their local police detachment. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com, or by using the “P3 Tips” app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.