Andrea DeMeer
Spotlight Staff
A drug bust doesn’t exactly unfold as television would have people believe.
“It’s a lot slower,” said Barry Kennedy, Princeton RCMP Sergeant. “On TV they all go in kicking doors and people are diving everywhere, but it doesn’t work like that. We take our time to make sure we know as much information as we can, the layout of the house and who is in the house.
“We need to do it right so that nobody gets hurt.”
Last Wednesday Princeton police arrested a man on Angela Avenue. They seized quantities of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroine and marijuana from a nearby home. They also found two loaded shotguns, a loaded 22-caliber revolver and $6,200 in cash.
The arrest and subsequent search of the house were carried out by local officers, and members of the Federal Organized Serious Crime Unit and South Okanagan General Investigation Section.
Kennedy said police were on “high alert” after receiving calls from informants in the community about suspected illegal activity. “They came to our attention within the last month. There were threats going on, guys who were walking around, general suspicious activity.”
Under those circumstances “you try to verify who the people are that are being reported, to see if those are people we should be keeping an eye on. If they are, we will formulate a plan to deal with them.”
After identifying the suspects Princeton police called in special services from other branches of the RCMP.
“We knew we were going to need some help to deal with these people.”
Those units brought specialized equipment and training to the situation.
Two days later officers conducting surveillance witnessed a drug transaction being conducted openly on Angela Avenue.
“We moved in to make the arrests.”
Kennedy described the first suspect as being “a bit surprised…a little bewildered thinking they are in the little Town of Princeton with its nine Mounties and ‘wow, where did these guys come from?’”
The first things police saw when they entered the property were the weapons.
“They were all loaded and they were inside the door. It’s a little unnerving to know that these guys had loaded weapons right behind the door and if we had gone up for any type of questions or to respond to a complaint, that was what was behind that door.”
A woman was apprehended fleeing from the back of home and later released.
Kennedy said it was believed she had been in the house paying a drug-related debt.
After searching the house and finding drugs and cash, police issued a warrant for a second suspect who later presented himself to police at the local detachment.
Kennedy said it is believed while both suspects live in Princeton, they are new to the area.
Christopher David Morrison and Jordan Dean Swanson have been charged with forcible entry to real property, uttering threats, and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public.
Morrison has also been charged with failure to comply with recognizance conditions of not to possess any weapons.
Further charges are expected, said Kennedy.