The Regina Police Service (RPS) says drug trafficking in the city has been significantly impacted, after a recent bust seized $115,000 worth of narcotics as well as weapons and ammunition.
On June 18, members of RPS’s drug unit and tactical team arrested a 43-year-old Regina man outside a residential complex on the 3200 block of Arens Road.
According to police, the man was carrying a loaded 9mm handgun, a small amount of Canadian currency, brass knuckles, and a knife.
Further searches of a home and two vehicles in the area uncovered 4.2 kilograms of meth, around half a kilogram of fentanyl, 3.82 grams of cocaine and $7,795 in Canadian currency.
“This is good news for us to take these kinds of drugs away, we know that the drugs that we seize now, they’re not going to be in the hands of people in Regina,” Supt. Kelly Trithart told reporters Wednesday.
Additionally, several weapons were seized during the operation. They included.
- Another loaded 9mm handgun equipped with a “Glock switch,” which allows it to fire fully automatic
- A loaded .22 calibre handgun equipped with a silencer
- An SKS .762 semi-automatic rifle and ammunition
- A .22 caliber AR semi-automatic rifle and ammunition
- A 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition
- Thousands of rounds of ammunition
- Prohibited extended magazines
- A variety of bladed weapons
- Body armour and other tactical equipment
The 43-year-old Regina man faces a total of 29 charges, including possession of a substance for the purpose of trafficking, careless use of a firearm, possessing prohibited weapons, and tampering with the serial number of a firearm.
Trithart told reporters seizures of these types of firearms are rare, especially the seizure of the modified Glock and silencer.
“We don’t see that a lot, but it is concerning ... as a police officer to see that they’re in the hands of somebody that could cause harm to the community, to the police officers and other people that they’re dealing with,” he said.
The superintendent added investigators will attempt to trace the origins of the various weapons.
“They try and figure out where they originated from, and talk with those related police services, and then hopefully maybe there might even be a connection to other investigations where these firearms have been involved,” Trithart noted.
In a related operation in Saskatoon on the same day, members of the Saskatoon Police Service executed a search warrant at a home on the 500 block of 5th Avenue in Saskatoon.
A 32-year-old man was arrested and charged with possessing the proceeds of crime over $5,000 and trafficking a controlled substance.
A total of $31,090 in Canadian currency, a 2016 Ford F-150, a cellphone and drug paraphernalia were seized.
The accused in Regina made his first appearance in provincial court on June 19, while the accused in Saskatoon appeared on June 22.
