Swift Current Online Staff

The Swift Current City RCMP have released more details in connection to the May 31 police presence including recovering a loaded gun and a significant amount of illegal drugs.

An RCMP release Tuesday afternoon stated the search warrant on the 200 block of 7th Avenue Northwest turned up around 500 grams of suspected cocaine (pending analysis), a prohibited firearm magazine, a loaded restricted firearm, and firearm parts.

More details are emerging regarding the increased police presence in the west-central part of the city yesterday. 

The Swift Current Municipal General Investigations Section, Saskatchewan RCMP Incident Program, Swift Current RCMP Traffic Services Unit, Swift Current Police Dog Services, and the Swift Current RCMP Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team executed a search warrant on May 31, at a residence located on the 200 block of 7th Avenue Northwest. 

The search was carried out in relation to an ongoing illegal firearms possession investigation. 

Heavy Swift Current City RCMP presence, including the Saskatchewan Emergency Response Team (ERT), stalled traffic in the west central area of Swift Current this morning.

Officers barricaded alleys and roadways around 7th Avenue Northwest and Herbert Street for several hours.

UPDATE: 11:01 a.m.

Initial reports from witnesses stated gunshots were caught on video footage, however it has been confirmed by RCMP officials that no shots were fired, as only suppression equipment was used. 

UPDATE: 10:19 a.m.

A witness has provided video of a shot being fired. The video is at the bottom of the story. 

Viewer discretion is advised. 

 

UPDATE: 9:41 a.m.

Swift Current Municipal Detachment was alerted of a possible fraud involving three individuals on March 27. 

The individuals in question were using suspicious gift cards at a local business on North Service Road East. 

Investigators were able to identify, locate and arrest the three individuals. 

Several suspected fake gift cards were seized. 

The Saskatchewan RCMP’s Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team (STRT) in Swift Current and the Swift Current RCMP General Investigation Section (GIS) launched an investigation, back in January, into the inter-provincial drug trafficking activities of 41-year-old Keenan Leith Ireland. 

Investigators worked in collaboration and corroborated information over the following months to pinpoint and identify Ireland’s whereabouts and activities.  

Swift Current Municipal RCMP, with the assistance of the Swift Current Trafficking Response Team, executed a search warrant on March 8, at a residence on 9 Avenue Northwest. 

As a result, three occupants were taken into custody without incident. 

Quantities of cocaine and illegal tobacco were located, along with Canadian currency and a large amount of suspected stolen property were located during the search. 

It looks like the corner is being turned for Stewart Valley School.

During a meeting at Central School in Swift Current, some new information was revealed in part about the fate of the Stewart Valley School. The information that was revealed could point to a decision favouring a rebuild of the school building, which burned down in August of last year. To be clear, no official decision has been reached by the Chinook School division yet. 

It can be extremely expensive to cut corners when it comes to waste management, a lesson that was recently learned by a municipality, a local landowner, and a contractor. 

Swift Current contractor, Knudsen Excavating, The Town of Cabri, and landowner, Lindsey Kelsey, were fined a total of $51,000 in Swift Current Provincial Court on October 4, 2022, after pleading guilty to numerous offences under The Enviromental Management and Protection Act and The Municipal Refuse Management Regulations.