$2.2M in drugs, cash found in record-setting Red Deer bust

A seizure of drugs worth more than $2 million and weapons in Red Deer on Oct. 19, 2023, was the drug bust in the city's history. (Source: Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams)

One man has been charged in connection to Red Deer's largest drug bust ever.

Police say they found more than six kilograms of each fentanyl and methamphetamine in a Fairview home on Oct. 19.

A 43-year-old man, who police arrested after witnessing a suspected drug deal downtown, lived at the home.

Investigators with ALERT, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, also found about half a kilogram of cocaine, two litres of GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid), $17,200 in cash, nine weapons, ammunition and body armour. Some of the firearms had been defaced or modified.

The drugs were estimated to have a street value of $2.2 million.

Police also found bars of silver, collectable coins and three "high-end" electric scooters, which they say were "used to facilitate the accused's drug trafficking operations."

The man was charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime and more than two dozen firearms-related offences. He was prohibited from possessing firearms in connection to a 2002 Fort McMurray case, ALERT said in a news release Tuesday.

He is being kept in police custody and was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 4.

Previously, Red Deer's largest drug bust was made by police in March 2019. Then, investigators seized 1.6 kilograms of cocaine, 1.2 kilograms of fentanyl, and 2.6 kilograms of methamphetamine.