Yellowknife RCMP seize gallons of illegal booze from downtown apartment

photo courtesy of RCMP

It’s very likely the largest seizure of illegal alcohol ever in the Northwest Territories.

Yellowknife RCMP have seized hundreds of containers of bootleg alcohol after a raid at an apartment unit on 49 St. downtown.

In a news release, police state they executed a search under the NWT Liquor Act on Thursday morning.

RCMP say they were reacting after receiving multiple tips from the public about possible illegal activities at the location, which led to surveillance and the search warrant.

As an outcome of the search, hundreds of bottles and cans of unopened liquor of various types were seized.

A suspect was arrested on the premises and is facing charges.

“This is not a victimless crime. The alleged sale of illegal alcohol is very concerning, and as a community, we cannot tolerate these illegal activities. We are committed to make our community safer, including our downtown core, and we are being proactive in stopping this kind of activity. The illegal sale of alcohol is targeting our most vulnerable citizens, and this seizure helps in reducing the harm caused by illegal alcohol in our community,” states Inspector Alexandre Laporte, Yellowknife RCMP Detachment Commander. “We want to thank the public for being vigilant and for reporting possible illegal activities in their neighborhood.”

The name of the suspect has not been released nor the charges they are facing.

The person has been released and is to appear in court on September 10.

 

 

 

About the Author

John McFadden
John has been in the broadcast journalism industry since the 1980s. He has been a reporter in Yellowknife since 2012 and joined CKLB in January of 2018. John covers the crime and court beat as well as reporting on other areas including politics, business, entertainment and sports. He won seven national community newspaper awards while he was a journalist with Northern News Services Limited (NNSL). John worked in Ontario before coming North including stints as a TV sportscaster in Peterborough and senior news writer for CBC and CTV in downtown Toronto.