Twelve suspects have been arrested after a two-year police investigation into a “drug pipeline” between British Columbia and Alberta.
Fifty-nine charges have been laid against the suspects and more than $2 million in drugs and cash was seized, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) reported Wednesday.
Project Elder was an ALERT Edmonton investigation into interprovincial wholesale drug distribution.
ALERT alleges that a “high volume of drugs” was being shipped to Alberta involving “a complex scheme that included vehicles equipped with hidden compartments.”
The cash proceeds of crime totalled $514,335 and the seizure included:
- 9.3 kilograms of cocaine
- 6 kilograms of methamphetamine
- 684 grams of fentanyl powder
- 17.2 kilograms of a cocaine buffing agent
- .40-calibre handgun with suppressor and expanded magazine
ALERT also seized five vehicles equipped with hidden compartments.
The bust represents ALERT’s fourth largest seizure of cocaine, and fourth largest seizure of methamphetamine.