La Ronge RCMP say its General Investigation Section unit has removed hundreds of grams of illegal drugs, drug trafficking paraphernalia and several illegally-possessed firearms from the La Ronge area since recently expanding.

In 2020 the GIS unit expanded from one to three members, one corporal and two constables.  So far in 2021, officers have charged 20 people with more than 50 criminal code offenses including drug trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime and illegal firearm possession charges.  That included an incident on March 24th where 520 grams of crack cocaine, around $10,000 in cash, a firearm and drug paraphernalia were seized from a home in La Ronge.

La Ronge Detachment Commander Staff Sargent Dean Bridle says they found with only one member, the unit seemed to be tied up with more serious files in a reactive way, as opposed to having the flexibility of being able to engage in intelligence-led, targeted project-style investigations. Bridle says the results speak for themselves and have been very well received by the community.