{"id":159314,"date":"2026-08-07T11:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/159314\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T11:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T11:13:08","slug":"alert-seizes-7m-in-drugs-and-1-15m-cash-in-edmonton-calgary-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/159314\/","title":{"rendered":"ALERT seizes $7M in drugs and $1.15M cash in Edmonton, Calgary bust"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"posted\">By Brook Wagner on August 7, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/080726-alert-bust-300x173.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>A provincial organized crime unit says a 10-month drug investigation netted 17 guns and eight vehicles on top of massive drug and cash bust. Several people have been arrested, though no charges have been laid yet.&#8211;HANDOUT PHOTO<a href=\"https:\/\/medicinehatnews.com\/news\/local-news\/2026\/08\/07\/alert-seizes-7m-in-drugs-and-1-15m-cash-in-edmonton-calgary-bust\/mailto:bwagner@medicinehatnews.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">bwagner@medicinehatnews.com<\/a><br \/>\nAlberta\u2019s organized crime police agency has seized more than $7 million in illegal drugs, a record cash haul of more than $1.15 million and 17 firearms after a 10-month drug trafficking investigation in Edmonton and Calgary.<br \/>\nThe Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, known as ALERT, said the seizure ranks among the largest in the agency\u2019s history. The exact cash total, $1,156,863, is the biggest ever recorded by ALERT in its 20-year history.<br \/>\nMost of the drug value came from cocaine. ALERT seized 66.5 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of $6.65 million. Officers also seized 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl, 3,494 suspected fentanyl pills, 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine and 2.3 kilograms of psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms.<br \/>\nAccording to ALERT the group used vehicles fitted with hidden compartments to move drugs and cash, mostly between the province\u2019s two largest centres.<br \/>\nOver the 10-month investigation, homes in Edmonton, Calgary, St. Albert and Sturgeon County were searched. The most recent searches, at six homes, took place on July 16.<br \/>\nALERT Edmonton\u2019s organized crime team led the case, with help from the Edmonton Police Service, the Calgary Police Service and the RCMP.<br \/>\nThe 17 firearms included six handguns and 11 rifles. ALERT said the guns will be sent to the Provincial Firearms Solutions Lab for analysis and ballistics testing to check whether they were used in other crimes.<br \/>\nThe cash and eight vehicles were taken as offence-related property, and ALERT said it will consult the province\u2019s Civil Forfeiture Office about them.<br \/>\nSeveral suspects were arrested, but no charges have been laid. ALERT said the investigation continues as officers prepare reports and disclosure for Crown prosecutors.<br \/>\nThe agency said the case grew out of criminal intelligence dating back to November 2025 about wholesale drug transporters working between Alberta\u2019s two biggest cities.<br \/>\nALERT operates across Alberta and runs a Medicine Hat organized crime team.<br \/>\nALERT asked anyone who suspects drug or gang activity to call local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.<br \/>\n14<br \/> -13\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Brook Wagner on August 7, 2026. A provincial organized crime unit says a 10-month drug investigation netted&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[52,5366],"class_list":["post-159314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-edmonton","tag-premium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}