Grande Prairie Drug Network Crippled by Series of Arrests

Grande Prairie… Eight people have been arrested following an Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) investigation into a Grande Prairie-based drug trafficking network with ties to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

On March 19th, Grande Prairie Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) wrapped up a five month investigation with the execution of three search warrants and the arrest of eight people. Grande Prairie RCMP and the RCMP Emergency Response Team assisted with the execution of the warrants.

CFSEU-Grande Prairie witnessed the group commit numerous drug deals in Grande Prairie and the project implicated street-level dealers and their suppliers. The group is tied to a Halifax-based criminal network that was also targeted in a CFSEU-Grande Prairie investigation from September 2013, which resulted in a number of arrests.

The six men arrested are all originally from Halifax. Together they are facing a total of 19 drug and weapons related charges:  

• Joshue Hendsbee, 26 years old; 
• Derek Cawthorn, 23 years old; 
• Marcus Verreault, 21 years old; 
• Romell Allison, 19 years old; 
• Ommyo Parham, 18 years old; 
• Jeremy Ross, 33 years old.   

Two other people were arrested and released with charges pending. Their names will not be released until charges are sworn.

As result of the search warrants investigators also seized roughly $18,000 worth of cocaine, two prohibited weapons, and other evidence of drug trafficking.