Inter-agency cooperation on both sides of the border was key in bringing down a prolific international Calgary-based drug cartel.
And police credit the swift arrest in a 2017 double-homicide with the ongoing investigation dubbed Project Arbour — the ALERT-led investigation into the meth and cannabis trafficking enterprise.
The year-log operation began after a routine traffic stop in Provo, Utah in Oct. 2016 uncovered 100 kilograms of methamphetamine in the back of a pickup truck, and landed three Calgary men in custody, said Supt. Chad Coles of ALERT — the Canada Law Enforcement Response Team.
Coles, joined by representatives from the Calgary Police Service and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, gave details of the investigation to media at a Thursday morning press conference.
Project Arbour also led police to charge 26-year-old Blais Delaire, accused of providing the weapon used in last June’s double-homicide of Colin Reitberger and Anees Amr — shot to death in a busy parking lot of a southeast Calgary supermarket.
Facing charges as part of Project Arbour are Drew Mann, 25, Matthew Spiers, 24, Bryan Livingston, 32, Blais Delaire, 26, and accused ringleader Allistair Chapman, 25.