ALERT is leading Alberta’s response to fentanyl trafficking
Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) is at the forefront of Alberta’s commitment to disrupting organized crime.
Jonathan Loyie was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday, January 29 for his role in Project Essence, Alberta’s largest-ever fentanyl superlab case. Project Essence resulted in the seizure of over $300 million in illicit drugs, precursors, chemicals and equipment – the sentencing judge describing fentanyl traffickers as “merchants of death.”
Since 2006, ALERT’s integrated policing model has resulted in the seizure of over $989 million in illicit drugs, including:
- Approximately 95 kilograms of processed fentanyl powder(s) intended for sale
- More than 276,000 fentanyl pills
- 10,000+ kilograms of fentanyl precursors, chemicals, and buffing agents used in fentanyl production
Some of these seizures were the result of ALERT’s initiatives in identifying and dismantling six fentanyl labs and/or pill press operations in the province. ALERT is funded by the Province of Alberta and is leading in the disruption of the fentanyl trade. Our integrated teams continue to tackle serious and organized crime by bringing together multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Alberta Sheriffs, and each of Alberta’s municipal police services.
Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.
Headlines
Global National
President Donald Trump has claimed that “massive” amounts of fentanyl are being smuggled from Canada to the U.S. In response, Canada’s new ‘Fentanyl Czar,’ Kevin Brosseau, is heading to Washington to discuss the issue. But is the claim
really true?
What could have been produced from those [fentanyl super] labs certainly would saturate our market, and probably our neighbours provincially, but the data doesn't tell us that anything is going south of the border.
If we can turn the knob or the flow of demand down.… We should be able to curtail some of that supply, or the supply will shift — it will go somewhere else.
CBC News
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty says Canada’s new “fentanyl czar” will be appointed before U.S. President Donald Trump’s next deadline for imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods.
The Canadian Press
Canadian investigators were effectively cracking down on fentanyl trafficking and production well before U.S. President Donald Trump threatened devastating tariffs if Canada didn’t do more to stop the drug from flowing south, police officials in Western Canada.
It's nothing new to us that fentanyl is a priority. Across the nation ... we're dismantling and indicting more because there is a concerted effort.
