By Shaun Penner

Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams

ALERT sees 2019 as successful year of operations

Jan 9, 2020 | 12:06 PM

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams are reflecting back on 2019 as a year of success.

The group, also known as ALERT, is a provincially mandated organization that works to address and combat organized and serious crime across Alberta, including in Grande Prairie. They also operate out of police detachments in Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.

The team says in a news release that over the calendar year of 2019, they laid over 1,400 criminal charges against 241 suspects, seized over $13 million worth of drugs like cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine and more than $4 million is proceeds of crime. They also took 92 firearms off the streets of Alberta.

Two of the highlights noted by ALERT are busts that were made with Peace Country ties.

One of those was an investigation that led to charges against 37-year-old Grande Prairie resident Misty Konuch, who was charged back in October for alleged straw purchasing of firearms, which she was in turn selling on the black market.

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Konuch was arrested during a traffic stop in the city on October 1, after allegedly buying her fifth firearm. At that time, ALERT says only one gun was turned up during the search of her vehicle.

“None of the other handguns have been accounted for, and who is in possession of those handguns should prompt concern from the community,” said ALERT Regional Teams Inspector Sean Boser back in October.

The other case with Peace Region ties was Project Embrace, which saw the dismantling of a drug pipeline between Alberta and B.C.

In that case, ALERT claimed that drugs were coming in from B.C. and were distributed to Little Smoky, along with the northeastern Alberta communities of Bonnyville, Lloydminster, St. Paul, Cold Lake and Frog Lake.

Six people, none from the Peace Region, were charged in that case.

In total, ALERT’s Grande Prairie operations arrested 34 people, laid 178 charges, seized 29 firearms and seized an estimated $376,000 worth of drugs during the year.

ALERT notes that their prize bust of the year was Project Coyote, which was a joint investigation with their Calgary branch and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that resulted in a record total of $15 million worth of cocaine and fentanyl pills being seized, in both the United States and Canada.

“Project Coyote was a lengthy, complex investigation, and I applaud our team in Calgary for their ongoing commitment to the investigation,” said ALERT CEO Supt. Dwayne Lakusta, in a statement. “It’s a significant bust, and a great example of the efforts taken by our teams to fight organized crime.”

Other notable busts that highlight ALERT’s year include a record meth seizure in Medicine Hat, and busting a drug trafficking ring in Red Deer.