THUNDER BAY - Despite three more arrests and the seizure of approximately $30,000 worth of drugs in connection to an attempted murder investigation, Thunder Bay police say local drug trafficking with the accompanying level of violence taking place in the city isn't slowing down.
Thunder Bay Police Service announced on Tuesday the arrest of Jacob Wattie, Molly O’Brien and Natalie Salatino in connection with a drug-related shooting that left Shane Keefe with two serious gunshot wounds on May 3 near the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
Officers arrested and charged Terry Pelto with attempted murder and firearm-related offences on May 4. The three new arrests were made on Monday evening after police executed a search warrant in the 700-block of Catherine Street.
Police seized cash, narcotics and a firearm as well as items believed to be a potential explosive device that required the police service and the OPP’s bomb disposal unit to assess. It was determined the item was not explosive on its own, police said, but could have been with other materials.
Thunder Bay Police Service Det.-Insp. John Fennell said despite efforts from police, drug trafficking and the level of violence that follows with organized crime is a significant concern for local police.
“It doesn’t seem to matter how many people we arrest it doesn’t seem to matter how many drugs we take off the streets, it just seems to be coming,” Fennell said on Tuesday.
“As soon as we put somebody in jail…there is somebody to fill that person's space coming up from Toronto,” he said. “There is a network strong enough that they are able to replenish themselves with new narcotics on a very quick basis and that’s what is so concerning for us is how fast they can be.”
Police stated last week the shooting incident that left Keefe with two serious gunshot wounds was a targeted incident allegedly related to the hostile drug trade and that all participants were known to each other.
“It’s a business and the business is a bit of competition because everybody wants to sell their stuff and they want to sell their stuff for a great deal of money so if you start having too many people sell it, then all of a sudden profits go down or demand goes down for that particular person and everybody wants to be in charge of that drug trade,” Fennell said.
He also explained the $30,000 seizure of drugs doesn’t appear to decrease activity in the local drug trade.
“Not many years ago that would have been substantial and somebody would have been extremely concerned about losing that amount of money where nowadays there doesn’t seem to be a concern of losing that kind of money,” he said. “It’s not slowing them down…even with that amount of money you’d think it would kind of prevent them from coming but again, that tells you how much money they must be making when they don’t blink at the loss of that income.”
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.
All four accused are scheduled to appear in Thunder Bay court later this week.
