Nearly seven pounds of seized marijuana ruled inadmissible

An Iqaluit man found with nearly seven pounds of marijuana in his luggage last year will almost certainly not be prosecuted, following a Nunavut Court of Justice ruling, issued Aug. 8, that found police violated his Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

Two RCMP members arrested Andrew Alainga at the Iqaluit airport on March 7, 2011. In a search of his luggage, they found 6.87 pounds of marijuana and charged him with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

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In Some Communities, Number Of Crimes Exceeds Population Number

KUUJJUAQ - A dozen uniformed police officers from the Kativik Regional Police Force and the Surete du Quebec arrived Feb. 25 at this week's meeting of the Kativik Regional Government's regional council to make a symbolic show of beefed-up police activity in the region.

Nunavimmiut listening to a live broadcast of council proceedings on the Taqramiut Nipingat Inc. radio network couldn't see the group's impressive physical bulk and serious expressions.

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Charges Laid Against Two Men Involved With Qikiqtaaluk Compassionate Society

IQALUIT - The RCMP raided Nunavut's first compassion club selling marijuana for medicinal use Jan. 29, and charged two men with drug trafficking.

Police seized two pounds of marijuana, $7,200 in cash, a GMC Yukon and trafficking materials during a search of two Iqaluit residences, according to an RCMP press release.

Ed deVries, 51, was charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. Sakku Kripinak, 30, was charged with one count of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

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Kivalliq Air Installs X-ray Machine In Winnipeg Terminal

Kivalliq Air passengers are about to find it a whole lot tougher to sneak unwanted goods on board flights departing Winnipeg.

The airline has announced an X-ray machine will be in operation this week to scan all baggage and cargo.

Kivalliq Air operations manager John McFee said the machine has been part of ongoing discussions between the airline and various organizations for a number of years.

He said the concern has centred on passengers who use airline travel, in general, to take illegal substances and alcohol into Nunavut.

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IQALUIT - Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik lawyer Scott Wheildon says potential changes to Canada's laws would force judges to hand down longer sentences, stressing Nunavut's already overcrowded justice system.

"Year after year, we have over 6,000 charges being laid in this territory," said Wheildon. That's the number of charges per year, not the number of people charged, he noted.

The Baffin Correctional Centre in Iqaluit has an official capacity of 65 beds but often houses more than 90 prisoners. The Ilavut Correctional Healing Centre in Kugluktuk can house up to 12 in a minimum-security environment. The tentatively-named Rankin Inlet Healing Facility will have room for 46 prisoners and is scheduled to open in 2011, according to Nunavut's assistant deputy attorney general Doug Garson.

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IQALUIT - A marijuana activist in Iqaluit says police had no right to raid his home and his church and seize the confidential files of his guests.

Ed deVries was arrested on Aug. 18 on charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking after police searched his home. According to a press release, police seized five ounces of various cannabis derivatives including pills, resin, oil and trafficking paraphernalia.

DeVries said he didn't receive a warrant when police arrived at his door around 8 p.m. He compared the bust as if his home had been "like a crack house in Detroit."

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Iqaluit's medicinal cannabis advocate Ed deVries served notice to city council this week that he has applied for a licence to run a business selling pot in the city.

Not just any pot, he told council during an appearance at its Tuesday meeting, but "healthy cannabis medicine."

"I'm a healer, not a dealer," he said.

DeVries said he could provide marijuana to his many "sick" customers illicitly - and he's already served jail-time for selling pot - but he wants to act openly and above board, and he appealed to council to help him do it.

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We have taken the liberty in this space many times in the past to criticize the length, or lack thereof, of a number of criminal sentences imposed by those who sit on the bench in the Nunavut Court of Justice.

But this time we applaud the recent stance taken by Justice Earl D. Johnson in imposing sentencing on two convicted drug traffickers in Iqaluit who were dealing in crack cocaine.

The two are cousins who moved to Iqaluit from Edmonton.

Rafic ElCherkaowi, 23, was the smaller player of the two and received an eight-month sentence.

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Quebec Police Investigated -Allegations Against Brian Jones

Brian Jones, the former chief of the Kativik Regional Police Force, has been charged with fraud and corruption after a complaint by the Kativik Regional Government.

Jones is alleged to have misused money seized by police during drug busts carried out in Nunavik during his tenure as police chief, according to information obtained by Nunatsiaq News.

The laying of the charge follows an investigation by the Quebec provincial police force, the Surete du Quebec, into the complaint made by the KRG.

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I am a United States resident who lives in Wisconsin. For the past few years I have had an interest in Nunavut and read the Nunatsiaq News each week.

I have also read a couple of books on Inuit life and on occasion listen to Iqaluit radio programming on CBC North.

Your Inuit culture, history and the beautiful, challenging and special land that makes up Nunavut is fascinating to me. If I ever have the extra income to visit Nunavut, I certainly will.

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"It Doesn't Seem to Be Slowing the Drug Trade Down Here."

Drugs continue to arrive regularly in Sanikiluaq via scheduled Kivalliq Air fights from Winnipeg, say police at the local Sanikiluaq RCMP detachment.

When Kivalliq Air launched its air service April 1 between Sanikiluaq and Winnipeg, security checks on passenger luggage came to a halt and the quantity of drugs and alcohol flooding into Sanikiluaq began to increase.

"As many seizures as we're getting, it doesn't seem to be slowing the drug trade down here," said Const. Paul Robinson.

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"It's Disturbing For A Community Of 800, Especially The Crack Cocaine."

Drugs such as crack cocaine, along with illegal alcohol, have been pouring into Sanikiluaq since April 1, when Kivalliq Air started a new scheduled air service from Winnipeg.

Before April 1, the Government of Nunavut chartered Kivalliq Air's planes to carry patients in and out of Sanikiluaq for medical treatment. Then, all bags were searched regularly in Winnipeg.

But when Kivalliq Air launched a scheduled air service April 1, on a 16-seater, twin-engine Beech aircraft, security checks on passenger luggage came to a halt.

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On March 8, RCMP found 3.8 pounds of crack cocaine remaining in Iqaluit after $239,000 of cash profit had already left this community the day before.

It is understandable that the authorities are laying charges of possessing property obtained by crime, but what puzzles me in view of the scale and efficiency of this operation is that the charges do not allege membership in organized crime.

The Road to Hell by Julian Sher and William Marsden, published by Vintage Books of Canada in 2004, indicates this market is well understood and almost certainly linked to known operations in Edmonton and/or Vancouver.

(Name witheld by request) Iqaluit

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Facility Aims To Be Beacon For Inuit Seeking Freedom From Alcohol Or Drugs

KUUJJUAQ - The Isuarsivik treatment centre in Kuujjuaq is back in operation, having recently completed its first six-week residential treatment program for a group of five male clients from several Nunavik communities.

When the men came to the program, they were "scared, unsure, scattered and troubled," says executive director Annie Gordon.

But when they finished, she says they were more grounded and sure of themselves.

"Their self-esteem was higher and they have skills to deal with relapse," she said.

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"Our Main Consideration In Developing These Policies Is With workplace safety."

CAMBRIDGE BAY - The Kitikmeot Inuit Association wants drug- and alcohol-free workplaces for all mining sites and exploration camps on Inuit owned lands, KIA president Donald Havioyak told the recent KIA annual general meeting in Cambridge Bay.

The zero-tolerance policy is now a condition for companies doing either mineral exploration or development in the Kitikmeot.

And if they don't comply, Geoff Clark, the KIA's director of lands and resources, said the KIA will revoke the companies' permits.

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Well, what can I say? I am joyous, ecstatic and also dismayed by the recent drug bust in Iqaluit.

Firstly, a big nakurmik, thank you, quana, and merci to the Iqaluit RCMP detachment for the drug bust. Your efforts are appreciated and don't go unnoticed.

Dismayed? Yes, I am alarmed that there is a market for 1.6 kilos of crack cocaine in my home town (though I cannot fathom what 1.6 kilos of crack looks like.) I'm dismayed because there are individuals who take this drug, who are hooked on it and rely on it for pleasure.

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Hayward Wants RCMP To Report To Council More Often

It might just be Iqaluit's dirty little secret, whispered in the corners of city bars and behind the closed curtains of homes.

Crack cocaine is said to be the new drug of choice in Iqaluit and Deputy Mayor Al Hayward wants to hear what the RCMP plan do about the problem. Trouble is, he can't get them to come to a city council meeting.

"On any given day you can look in front of Northmart and see drug deals going down," he said. "We're supposed to have trained professionals in town that are supposed to be able to look after these problems and they're not responding at all."

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"People will buy drugs instead of supplying their children with diapers or food."

Kangiqsujuaq is swamped with drugs and alcohol, police warn, because residents are flush with cash following the distribution of profit-sharing cheques from Xstrata's Raglin mine earlier this summer.

The municipality and landholding organization has invested some of the money, but members of the Kativik Regional Police Force say many residents have used the payout, which amounts to several thousands of dollars per family, to travel to Montreal and return with beer, wine and spirits.

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Nunavimmiut Shoulder Human Cost Of Police Force Cuts

Don't arrest anyone unless it's absolutely necessary.

That's what the Kativik Regional Police Force management told the ranking officers during a recent meeting in Kuujjuaq, says a member of the KRPF.

A further memo sent to regular members told them not to enforce municipal by-laws restricting alcohol or to seize drugs.

Nunavik's cash-strapped police force wants to keep -transportation costs down and save on manpower during the summer by reducing the numbers of arrests - even in -domestic violence cases where women and children may be at continued risk.

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There's no evidence that a strawberry-flavoured form of crystal methamphetamine has entered Nunavut, or Canada, for that matter.

Yet email reports of the drug have quickly circulated among alarmed parents in Iqaluit, spreading concern that their children may be the target of the crystal meth variation, sometimes called "Stawberry Quik," that's said to resemble Pop Rock candy.

Cpl. Jimmy Akavak said Nunavut's RCMP have not seized crystal meth, flavoured or otherwise, in the territory. Nor have they heard reports of the highly-addictive stimulant being sold to minors.

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