More alcohol seized by Wollaston Lake RCMP

For the second time in as many weeks, the Wollaston Lake RCMP has intercepted alcohol it says was to be sold in the area.

In a media release Friday, the RCMP said officers were tipped off last Saturday about a resident of the area heading on a private boat to the Wollaston Lake community with booze that was to be resold.

“While police officers were waiting on the shore of the lake to intercept the boat as it arrived, they saw the boat approaching the shore but abruptly turning away and going back to the lake,” the release said. “The boat went in the direction of Jackpine Island for approximately 30 minutes.

“When the boat finally came back and arrived at the dock, police searched the boat and its four occupants but did not locate any alcohol.”

So officers boarded a boat and searched a small island near Jackpine Island. There, they found three bags filled with 33 bottles of hard liquor and evidence that the alcohol belonged to the suspect.

(RCMP/Submitted)

The booze was seized and the resident was charged under the Saskatchewan Alcohol and Gaming Regulations Act (AGRA).

Later that day, the RCMP got calls about other people who were transporting alcohol into the area for resale.

That evening, officers followed a private boat on Wollaston Lake until it reached the shore. A search of the boat found 12 bottles of hard liquor and more than 60 bottles and cans of wine, beers and coolers.

That alcohol was seized and a resident of the Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation — which is a dry community — was charged.

(RCMP/Submitted)

Then, on Sunday, the RCMP searched the commercial barge that during the summer connects the community of Wollaston Lake to Highway 905 across the lake. On the barge, officers found eight bottles of hard liquor in a package that was to be delivered.

The RCMP said the four incidents over the two weekends are not connected.

Wollaston Lake is located about 550 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert.