The province’s anti-gang unit was sent to Kamloops to help crack down on the escalating drug war, and its leaders believe they’ve made some progress.
The local RCMP had been dealing with a string of violent incidents believed to be tied to a power struggle among gangs for control of the city’s drug trade. The most recent incident involved a shooting at a North Shore home XXX.
READ MORE: Bomb threats, gunfire, kidnapping: Drug war rocks Kamloops
Over nine days in February, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit’s Uniform Gang Enforcement Team seized a substantial amount of cash and weapons, according to a news release issued Thursday.
They stopped 144 vehicles, checked 173 people, and seized a number of different substances they believe to be methamphetamine, crack cocaine and fentanyl. More than $48,000 in cash believed to be from the drug trade was retrieved and more than 19 potential weapons.
The Uniform Gang Enforcement Team members are experts in street-level gang and drug activity, said spokesperson Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, and are not tied to local police so that they can focus more closely on suspicious activities.
joti.grewal@bpdigital.ca
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