RCMP cracks down
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
Drug trafficking may have gone up according to the recent Annual Performance Plan, APP, done by the RCMP, but it’s not due to increased criminal activity. On July 13 Staff Sgt. Larry Marzinzik went before Wheatland county council to present the results of this years APP.
In his report he stated trafficking has gone up by 250 per cent, and he said this was due to more focus being given to the area.
“Basically what rose by 250 per cent was our enforcement in the areas of production and trafficking. So it doesn’t mean the activity has risen, it just means we have identified the people involved in the activity, and were able to obtain enough information to be able to lay charges against people in relation to that,” said Marzinzik.
In the past, the RCMP have been limited in what they have been able to do in regards to trafficking and production because of a lack of resources, and this year, due to a shifting of resources more focus was put towards trafficking. There was more groundwork done towards gaining information and intelligence, which lead to search warrants and operational plans, which lead to more arrests and charges than in the past.
“We want to focus on keeping that level of enforcement going. The pressure is always on anyone that is involved in the drug trade on the business side and we want them always aware of the fact that we’re now monitoring and trying to gain more information on a daily basis to try to identify them and actually charge them,” said Marzinzik.
Drug involvement always rises as a population grows, and with Strathmore being so close to Calgary and many people working in the city, drug involvement could easily increase if it’s not monitored now.
“It’s bad to say, but the drug dealers do the same thing. They commute out into the smaller communities to ply their trade out here, and those are the people we’re trying to indentify and stop,” said Marzinzik. Anyone in the criminal side of things often go into whatever will make them the most money, trafficking, counterfeiting and even chop shops. Fortunately Wheatland County is a quiet rural area, and Marzinzik said some people will move into a quiet community so they can keep to themselves. He also said the fact that the county is so peaceful and everyone knows each other helps the RCMP more than in the city.
In rural areas people are more likely to notice a suspicious person and report it to their local detachment, whereas in Calgary, most may just ignore it.