Drug dealers arrested and charged in ALERT sting

A dozen people from southern Alberta have been charged in connection with a bust of an illegal drug operation working in Medicine Hat and Brooks.

Since March 2016, officers with Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams worked alongside Medicine Hat police and Brooks RCMP to crack down on dial-a-dope drug operations.

Police say these types of operations are more popular because they attempt to avoid the regular risks associated with the drug trade, which often include violence.

As a result, large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine were seized.

In late June, a dozen people were also arrested and charged:

“We have seen firsthand the negative effects of meth and cocaine addiction in Medicine Hat and Brooks, and these arrests will have an immediate impact in making those communities a safer place,” said Staff Sergeant Jason Graham, ALERT Medicine Hat in a release.

Warrants are still out for the arrest of two suspects.

Anyone with information on drug operations in their community can call their local police detachment or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.