Edmonton Drug Dealers Charged with Child Endangerment

Edmonton… Three Edmonton women are facing charges under Alberta’s Drug-Endangered Children Act after allegedly exposing an infant to drug deals and cocaine production.

ALERT Edmonton’s organized crime and gang team charged the three women on April 5, 2017. The women’s ages are 27, 26, and 26, but their names are not being released in order to protect the identity of the 11-month-old victim. The infant is the biological daughter of one of the accused.

Police allege that the women brought the infant along on a number of drug transactions. ALERT expedited the investigation after growing concerns for the health and well-being of the child.

A search warrant was executed at home in northeast Edmonton on March 23, where investigators found evidence consistent with cocaine trafficking. Cocaine processing equipment and residue was found throughout the home and the infant’s nursery doubled as a cocaine conversion lab, where the drug was being converted to crack cocaine.

Edmonton Police Service’s Child at Risk Response Team (CARRT) provided assistance and the child was removed from the home.

Charges against the women include:

• Causing a child to be drug-endangered;
• Causing a child to be in need of intervention;
• Production of cocaine;
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking; and
• Possession of a controlled substance.

The Drug-Endangered Children Act makes it clear that children exposed to an adult’s involvement in serious drug activity, such as trafficking, are victims of abuse and need protection.