More than 27kg of cocaine seized from west Edmonton home - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

"We're hoping that will create quite the impact in the sale of cocaine and MDMA in Edmonton and we'll see a reduction on the streets," Angela Kemp, an inspector with Edmonton Police Service and the lead of ALERT's organized crime and gang teams, said during a news conference Monday.

The seizure took place on April 30, when a home in the Lewis Estates neighbourhood in west Edmonton was searched.

ALERT said five kilograms of MDMA, nearly four kilograms of a suspected cocaine buffing agent, $19,000 cash and "further evidence to support drug-trafficking offences" were also found.

"Broken down and sold on the street level, this seizure would be valued at more than $3 million," Kemp said. "This is a huge impact on organized crime in the city of Edmonton, and removing these drugs from the streets also affects our community in a positive way."

Story continues below advertisement

With Edmonton being a major hub, Kemp said the city consistently sees the negative impact of gang-related violence.

She added the seizure will affect the street-level drug scene beyond the city.

"Edmonton is a gateway to the north — a lot of the controlled substances that we see moving through Edmonton also make their way up to Fort Mac, Grande Prairie and all the towns in between."

In recent years, other drugs such as fentanyl and carfentanil have become more prevalent. Kemp said cocaine never went away, but it's less commonly seen at the street level.

"The negative impact of fentanyl and other drugs of that nature were at the forefront, very identifiable within our downtown core, around the city, where we had people who were injecting with the fentanyl. Whereas cocaine, most times you're not seeing on the street.

"So even though it's not as apparent and not as visible, it's still very much used within our city."

ALERT said this seizure was part of a larger investigation into organized crime activity in the Edmonton area. The investigation has also involved the Edmonton Police Service and the RCMP's federal police.

"ALERT is determined to unravel and dismantle organized crime networks in Edmonton through these types of investigations," Kemp said.

Trending Now

Story continues below advertisement

One person was arrested but no charges have been laid, according to ALERT. Charges are expected "at a later date."

Kemp said the investigation remains active and ALERT is looking into a group with more people involved, but the structure of such criminal organizations these days is different than in the past.

"When we talk about criminal networks, a lot of times it's a group of people coming together and having specific skill sets — not necessarily having a hierarchy of rank. And that's the more common methods that we're seeing, within this area of Edmonton and within Alberta."

While this was ALERT's largest cocaine seizure in Edmonton, it isn't the largest seizure of cocaine in the city's history. That took place in October 2023 when the EPS seized 40.5 kilograms of cocaine during a traffic stop. Charges in that case have since been stayed.

1:46 'Biggest cocaine seizure in EPS history' made by Edmonton gang suppression team

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.