Drugs, firearms, wads of cash among Sask. RCMP hauls so far in 2025

More than 412 search warrants netted Saskatchewan RCMP’s SERT (enforcement response team) division over 13 kilograms of illegal drugs, 49 firearms, and over $231,000 in cash in the first half of 2025.

SERT includes the force’s crime reduction teams, the warrant enforcement and suppression team and trafficking response teams across the province.

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RCMP said in a news release on Friday that the trafficking response team investigates weapons, drugs and human trafficking cases.

From January through June 2025, the team opened three human trafficking files, executed 43 search warrants and made 25 arrests, as well as seizing over 2.3 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1.6 kg of methamphetamine. It also laid 22 charges.

One of the team’s biggest hauls was in Yorkton in January when a trafficking response team found and seized nearly 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, 936.5 grams of cocaine, 133 grams of fentanyl and around $6,000 in cash, enabling officers to charge a a 20-year-old man with multiple counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

“… we continue to target safety concerns all across the province and remove drugs, weapons and dangerous people from the communities we serve,” Inspector Michelle Ireland, acting officer in charge of the RCMP Saskatchewan enforcement response teams, said in the release.

“The collaboration between local RCMP detachments and SERT teams is incredibly important to the success of our work.”

SERT includes the RCMP’s Crime Reduction Teams (CRTs), Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team (WEST), and Saskatchewan Trafficking Response Team (STRT). (Saskatchewan RCMP/Submitted)

The crime reduction teams deal with “crime surges” in rural areas, the release said, targeting prolific offenders and street gangs.

In the first six months of 2025, the teams executed 277 arrest warrants, laid 379 charges, made 473 arrests. They seized over 1,800 packs of illegal tobacco, nearly eight kilograms of illegal drugs and more than $144,000 in cash, RCMP said.

As an example of crime reduction team work, RCMP said officers from the Prince Albert and Humboldt detachments searched a home near Humboldt in February and found 1 kg of methamphetamine, 801 grams of cocaine, 35,000 illegal cigarettes, four firearms and ammunition, bear spray and drug trafficking paraphernalia.

A 59-year-old man was charged of drug trafficking, along with possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000 as a result.

Police said they also arrested two people at a traffic stop near the home and found more than $42,000 in cash, a small amount of crack cocaine, and additional evidence of drug trafficking. One of the people was released without charges but the other was also charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime over $5,000.

The warrant enforcement and suppression team targets high-profile offenders that RCMP said “pose a significant threat to public safety,” such as gang members and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.

The RCMP operates one team out of Saskatoon and Meadow Lake and another team out of Prince Albert. From January through June, the teams executed 135 arrest warrants and made 102 arrests.

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