Drugs, cellphones, a machete, knives, three replica guns, a smoke grenade, and one rifle.
RCMP gang enforcement officers seized those items during a four-day sweep of the Comox Valley.
After two shootings just a day apart, members of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia’s Uniform Gang Enforcement Team were deployed in the valley.
The purpose of UGET is to mitigate, disrupt, and suppress any further violence.
The RCMP says the officers conduct active and high visibility enforcement in the community, including on people or groups that may be posing the greatest risk to public safety due to their involvement in gang or organized crime activity.
“One of the Integral components of the overall CFSEU-BC enforcement strategy is the Uniform Gang Enforcement Teams,” says Sgt. Brenda Winpenny, CFSEU-BC’s media relations officer.
The RCMP says during its time in the valley, UGET members checked numerous cars and people, almost all of them with associations to the street-level drug trade.
“The attendance of these additional police officers was noticed by the general public and by those involved in criminal activity,” said Staff Sgt. Glen Breckon of the Comox Valley RCMP’s Major Crime Unit.
“We are sending a strong message that violence will not be tolerated in this community.”
