Alberta First Nation’s war on drug trafficking reducing overdoses: ‘We hit it hard’
Global News
Plywood covers the doors and windows of several homes on the Blood Reserve, a vivid image of the southern Alberta First Nation's life-and-death battle with drug traffickers.
Plywood covers the doors and windows of several homes on the Blood Reserve, a vivid image of the southern Alberta First Nation’s life-and-death battle with drug traffickers.
The community 200 kilometres south of Calgary announced in April it was going to war against rampant opioid use on the reserve of 10,000 by setting up a special police team, and cleaning up and renovating many abandoned houses to shut down drug operations.
A beige bungalow in Standoff was one of the homes targeted by the drug squad. It’s been cleaned out. Only a child’s plastic toy space gun lay on the ground outside on a late August day.
“In this home, there were quite a few children and we did have information that fentanyl was being sold, and with fentanyl even just the dust from the product can cause health concerns,” says Const. Manasse Gabor, one of three officers from the Blood Tribe Police’s drug team.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s one thing to commit a crime, but it’s another thing to involve children and use them as a cover or a shield to an extent.”
At another home 20 kilometres south in Moses Lake, a pile of garbage on the front porch included a single Nike women’s running shoe, a pair of blue jeans, a black toaster and a dozen mismatched seat cushions from chairs and sofas.
The sign on the front door from Blood Tribe Housing warns against trespassing or vandalism.
The clampdown appears to be working.
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