Busy B.C. Day long weekend for anti-organized crime team in Kelowna

The province's anti-gang unit was deployed in Kelowna during the B.C. Day long weekend and it seized drugs, cash and weapons.

The team worked with Kelowna RCMP over the long weekend to find local crime hot spots and share intelligence, according to a Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit media release.

The Uniform Gang Enforcement Team enhanced regular police patrols and used the Kelowna RCMP patrol boat to get out on the water of Okanagan Lake. The gang team checked a number of boats on the lake and at marinas.

They also patrolled bars and nightclubs and kicked out three people under the City of Kelowna's Inadmissible Patron Program.

The gang unit stopped 125 vehicles and checked 75 people over the four days it was active in the city. It said most of the people checked were connected to the street-level drug trade.

A .308 calibre rifle was seized along with small amounts of cocaine, crystal meth and fentanyl.

While the gang team is based in and spends most of its time in Lower Mainland jurisdictions, the members also regularly support communities around B.C., either proactively or reactively, to provide short-term support to police agencies, the release states.

"Kelowna RCMP welcomed the opportunity to work together with the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team this past long weekend," Kelowna RCMP detachment commander Supt. Brent Mundle said in the release. "The joint effort of gang enforcement team and Kelowna detachment led to many successful outcomes including effective boat patrols. Proactive operations such as this help us to keep our community safe."

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