Drugs, money from latest bust shown off by Saskatoon police

Saskatoon Police Service held a show-and-tell session at its headquarters Thursday, displaying a large array of drugs and about $412,000 in cash seized from a massive drug bust last week.

The evidence was collected after a month-long investigation into fentanyl trafficking by the Saskatoon Integrated Drug Enforcement Street Team (SIDEST), a partnership between local police and RCMP.

On May 31, officers arrested two men in a vehicle stop after observing “activity consistent with drug trafficking” on the 100 block of 3rd Avenue South. The arrests led them to an apartment on the same block, as well as a house on Gillies Way in Rosewood.

A 60-year-old woman was arrested in the home along with two men, aged 62 and 33.

Between the traffic stop and two search warrants, police seized:

• 21 kilograms of methamphetamine
• 4,453 fentanyl pills
• 2.4 kilograms of powdered cocaine
• 6.8 kilograms of marijuana
• 91.5 grams of crack cocaine
• 776 grams of hash
• 7.3 grams of heroin
• About $412,000 in cash
• cocaine press
• two vehicles

“This is one of the largest seizures of fentanyl and methamphetamine we have ever seen,” said Saskatoon police Insp. Dale Solie.

“It’s impossible to put a number on how many lives this investigation has saved.”

RCMP Insp. Donovan Fisher echoed Solie’s sentiments.

“Removing this amount of highly addictive and dangerous illegal drugs from our community reduces the number of people who are exposed to not only the drugs themselves, but the resulting criminal activity that often follows,” he said.

“This will have a significant impact on the city of Saskatoon, the surrounding area and the entire province.”

A 30-year-old Saskatoon man is facing three counts of drug trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of heroin, possession of over three kilogram of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

A 33-year-old Calgary man is charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

The three people arrested in the Gillies Way home are each charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

Police wouldn’t comment on whether those charged were believed to be connected to gang activity, or where the drugs may have been imported from.

They noted the investigation was still in “early stages,” and information was still being uncovered.

The money recovered in the drug bust is now under the control of court officials.

Police said it would be up to Crown lawyers to prove the money was the proceeds of crime, and if successful the cash would be handed over to provincial coffers.