Edmonton LRT passenger films man, woman he says were smoking meth on train

Video of drug use on LRT prompts safety questions A man who says he recorded two people smoking meth on the LRT also says security didn't respond to calls for help. Jeremy Thompson reports.

EDMONTON — An Edmonton man posted video to social media that shows people apparently smoking meth on an LRT train last week.

Eric Zuniga and his mother got on the LRT at Bay/Enterprise Square Station after attending the Edmonton Oilers game versus the Calgary Flames on Jan. 29.

When Zuniga stepped on the train, he says he smelled cigarette smoke and thought something was off.

"When you get on the LRT you don’t expect to smell cigarette smoke — fresh cigarette smoke too," Zuniga told CTV News Edmonton.

He looked around and says he saw a woman smoking a cigarette. "I said, 'Hey, you shouldn't be doing that on here. There could be kids on here, there's families,'" Zuniga said.

Moments later, Zuniga says cigarettes made way for something else.

"You hear a torch light up. I turn around and the guy beside is smoking the pipe, right in front of everybody, and everyone is just, jaw on the floor, absolutely shocked."

Zuniga says the man passed the pipe to the woman, so he took his phone out, in disbelief, and began recording.

"Everyone was in shock. The whole train was scared, even," Zuniga said. "I kinda started talking to them to see what's going on. 'Hey, you shouldn’t be doing that. You can't be smoking on a train, let alone smoking meth on a train.'"

Zuniga says the woman didn't like being filmed and began yelling at him. An elder lady pressed the emergency button but he says no one responded.

"That's the thing that boggles my mind … nothing happened," he said.

Zuniga and his mother got off at South Campus, the same station as the man and woman he says were smoking meth. Zuniga says he watched them walk away and get on a bus, and was glad the situation inside the train didn’t escalate.

"It was so ridiculous, so unbelievable that all I could do was just film it … there's someone smoking meth on the LRT; you could try to tell your friend that but they're not going to believe you."

In a statement to CTV News, a City of Edmonton spokesperson said the city and the Edmonton Police Service are aware of the video.

Peace officers arrested and charged the man that night, the spokesperson said, and the woman was identified this week but has not been found.

"We strongly encourage anyone who sees any illegal/dangerous activity on the LRT, Edmonton Transit buses or City property, to report it as soon as it is safe and possible to do so," the city said in the statement.