By Claire Theobald
Edmonton police made the largest methamphetamine bust in their history during a traffic stop last Wednesday.
“There’s a lot more drugs out there where these came from,” said Insp. Dwayne Lakusta, the Edmonton police officer in charge of the organized crime branch.
Members of the Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement (EDGE) unit began tailing a suspected drug operation in Spring and a suspect already known to police.
After observing what was believed to be drug activity, officers pulled over and stopped a vehicle on June 22, seizing three kilograms of cocaine from inside the car.
“The methamphetamine would equate to over 97,000 single dosages sold to users on the street. The cocaine would result in over 23,000 half-gram dosages,” said Lakusta.
Lakusta said had these drugs been sold in bulk, they could have been worth $900,000 to the dealer. However, once those drugs are broken down for sale on the street, these drugs could have fetched as much as $2 million.
While this is the single largest methamphetamine bust in Edmonton history, Lakusta said it isn’t likely to make much of an impact on Edmonton’s larger meth trade, with the illegal drug showing up on city streets “in abundance,” over the past few months.
“We are scratching the surface, but any time we get an opportunity to take this level of dealer out, it does have an impact on that particular group,” said Lakusta. “I would be naive to think that it will have a larger impact on Edmonton.”
The previous record was set after officers seized five kilograms of meth, and Lakusta described the quantity seized Wednesday as “a significant amount of methamphetamine.”
While officers believe the drugs were going to be trafficked, investigators do not know where the drugs came from or where they were ultimately destined to go.
Ho Tran, 47, is now charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Tran is currently being held in custody and is due to appear in court in Edmonton on Thursday.
