Calgary police have arrested 93 people after a 10-week-long drug trafficking investigation.
Operation Endeavour began as a joint initiative and included undercover police officers making over 400 crack-cocaine buys from more than 200 people, according to police Chief Rick Hanson.
“This is not going to be a friendly city for gangs. We are not going to back off on the pressure,” Hanson said, adding police will continue to target all three levels of drug trafficking, including distribution at the street level.
“I think criminals will see this is not a safe city to operate their business. The heat is on,” he added.
Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the drug unit said the target of this investigation was specifically street level dealers in the downtown core.
“Certainly this is a disruption and we are not going away. You’re going to see a difference,” Cave said, adding the difference can already be seen.
“You couldn’t have bought dope in the downtown core yesterday,” he added.
Of the 93 people charged, Cave said it’s surprising there are so many new faces.
“Some of these people are in the process of supporting their addictions. Certainly there is a societal problem. Those of us who grew up in the city have watched the city grow and we’re seeing big city problems,” Cave added.
Officers are still in the process of arresting and charging another 113 people in the coming days to round up the operation. Police have laid 280 controlled and drug substances charges and 299 criminal code charges against the 93 suspects.
