Woman charged after drugs tossed over fence at P.A. Correctional Centre

A 30-year-old woman from Prince Albert is accused of assisting a local street gang get drugs into the men’s jail by organizing an effort to have the drugs physically tossed over a 12-foot-high barbed wire fence.

Tara Anita Bird was charged after a nearly four-month-long investigation by the Saskatchewan RCMP Crime Reduction Team. Cpl. Rob King was asked by paNOW how common these types of incidents are.

“Getting drugs into a correctional institution of any type is very difficult but where there’s a will, there’s usually a way, and someone will try to figure out a way to do it,” he said. “In this case, that’s what was being done. We believe (the drugs were) actually being thrown into the correctional centre.”

Bird was neither an inmate nor a staff member, police said.

Bird is scheduled to make her next court appearance on Sept. 17, and faces a charge of conspiracy to traffic controlled substances in association with, for the benefit of or at the direction of the Terror Squad street gang.

The Saskatchewan RCMP has two permanent Crime Reduction Teams operating in the province. Their mandate is to overtly target known criminals, prolific offenders and repeat offenders to reduce crime and make Saskatchewan safer.

The teams travel to areas that require assistance where community safety has been identified as a concern.

Nigel Maxwell, paNOW