Yellowknife woman appears in court in effort to have property seized by RCMP returned

Yellowknife Courthouse (CKLB File photo).

A prominent Yellowknife citizen appeared in court Wednesday in an effort to have property she says belongs to her, her husband and her son returned to them by the RCMP.

Two vehicles, a snowmobile and a rifle were seized by RCMP in 2016 when drug trafficking charges were laid against Arlene Hache’s son Norman Hache.

Arlene Hache, an outspoken social justice activist, told Supreme Court Judge Shannon Smallwood that a 2010 Mercedes Benz Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) belongs to her.

She added that a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup truck and a rifle belonging to her husband were lent to Norman to go hunting.

Hache says the snowmobile is Norman’s.

Norman Hache, and his father Jeseph Hache were not in court Wednesday.

Crown prosecutor Duane Praught says the property was all used during the commission of cocaine trafficking and therefore should remain forfeited.

He adds that Norman Hache admitted ownership of the property in an agreed statement of facts when he pleaded guilty to drug charges in 2017 before he was sentenced.

Praught adds that he has no evidence showing that the SUV is Arlene’s nor that the truck and firearm belong to her husband.

Arlene Hache, who represented herself, has requested to see the evidence proving that all the property was connected to drug trafficking.

Norman Hache was convicted of being the ring leader of a sophisticated cocaine drug ring that operated in Yellowknife and elsewhere in the Northwest Territories.

He received a five-year sentence and is now believed to be out on parole.

Norman Hache and his father Joseph Hache may both be in court with Arlene Hache on January 23 when the forfeiture hearing is to continue.

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.