Halifax Regional Police arrested and charged 12 people yesterday as part of an operation targeting street-level drug offenders.
Operation Implicate, a month long joint investigation between several law enforcement agencies including Halifax Regional Police and Halifax District RCMP, focused on the crack-cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drug trade in Dartmouth’s north end.
According to HRP Supt. Mike Burns, the 12 arrested – 10 males and two females – are facing charges ranging from possession to possession for the purposes of trafficking. He expects yesterday’s arrests will impact many aspects of life in North Dartmouth.
“We associate a great deal of property crime, violent crime and street-level robberies to areas where there is significant street-level drug trade,” he said. “We’re hoping by impacting on the root cause of some of this will have a direct impact, not only on the overall level of crime in that neighborhood, but on the quality of life in the neighborhood.”
Burns acknowledged 12 street-level arrests will not solve the problem, but will temporarily interrupt it.
“It’s not like we’re going to throw up our hands (and) declare victory today,” he said. “We’ll be very diligent on following up on this to make sure the illegal activity we displaced doesn’t just get replaced by someone else moving in on the business opportunity.”
When asked how significant the arrests will be on the broader drug trade in the city, Burns said police are focusing on the enforcement side of the drug problem.
“Over the larger impact on the drug trade in the HRM, we take this one day at a time. It’s something that we realize that we can’t take on everything at once,” he said. “The enforcement is certainly a reaction from what’s going on in the community.”
“Overall? That neighborhood in Dartmouth is a better place today. I can say that.”
