THUNDER BAY – City police are praising a vigilant public for helping them take down another drug trap house in a non-descript neighbourhood on the city’s north side.
Thanks to tips received from the public, police were able to conduct an ongoing investigation into activity at a Brent Street home, and on Wednesday evening, led a raid that led to six arrests.
It’s that type of information that will lead to more arrests down the road, as the growing gang infiltration of Thunder Bay continues, Det.-Insp. John Fennell said on Thursday.
In other words, if you see something, don’t be afraid to say something.
“We rely on the public a great deal with these types of investigations. There are only so many of us out on the street. We’re very busy, as you know. So the public is sometimes the eyes and the ears for us, and passing on this information helps us greatly – particularly because we need a certain amount of information to be able to write a search warrant for judicial authorization to be able to go into a home,” Fennell said.
Police say eight people were at the Brent Street home in question when they began the raid at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, where in addition to the arrest, investigators seized a quantity of crack cocaine, cocaine, a substance believed to be fentanyl and more than $10,000 in cash.
Thunder Bay`s Serena Anttila Sandra Bradley, 36, Marcel Rene Allan, 41, and Zoe Cheryl Pajamaki, 21, Brampton`s Alexander Amadi, 26, Toronto`s Mohammed Belal, 26, and London, Ont.’s Boris Ruti Kaleke, 25, were charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a Schedule 1 substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a Schedule 1 substance and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Belal was also saddled with a charge of probation order non-compliance.
All six were taken into custody, appeared in court on Thursday and remanded with future court dates pending.
Police won’t be high-fiving the arrests for long.
Fennell said as fast as investigators take down a trap house – a home taken over by drug dealers, either as payment of a debt or by force – another one pops up in another part of town.
Stopping them isn’t simple, but keeping an eye out on activity in one’s neighbourhood is a good way to notice anything suspicious going on.
“Most neighbours are familiar with the vehicles and the people walking around the neighbourhoods. (Look for) strange people, a lot of people, very quick traffic into a residence – for example, one or two minute traffic, meaning they go up to the door and they leave quite quickly,” Fennell said.
“Other things they can look for is a lot of vehicle traffic at strange times – two o’clock in the morning, for example; back-alley movement; people trying to conceal their identities with large hoods and those type of things. Those are things people are already recognizing, they’re already seeing in their neighbourhoods and they’re letting us know.”
Fennell said it’s tough to estimate just how many drug houses are in operation in Thunder Bay.
At-large Coun. Aldo Ruberto said he’s glad police are doing a fantastic job tackling the trap-house issue.
But it’s not enough.
“Unfortunately, when you attack one drug house, it just gets replaced with more people from southern Ontario, more people coming up here and taking advantage of the people who live here,” Ruberto said.
On Monday he led the charge to set up a council meeting on Nov. 25 to tackle the growing issues of gangs and violence.
“We have to support our police any way we can. We also need the public to help support the police anywhere we can. It’s tough,” Ruberto said.
