NORTH BATTLEFORD – The case against numerous people arrested in a large drug trafficking dial-a-dope operation dubbed Project Falter by police continues to make its way through the court system.
On Nov. 27, in North Battleford Provincial Court, 22-year-old Olija Budinski has case management and 20-year-old Delia Bull is scheduled to enter a plea. They are charged with trafficking cocaine.
In April 2024, Shae Laliberte, 24, is scheduled to enter a plea.
Twenty-seven-year-old Andrew Koberinski’s charge of conspiracy to traffic cocaine has gone to Battleford Court of King’s Bench.
Jason Harley Dillon Mason-Lank, 29, and Annaka Sylvia Rain Pooyak, 22, were back in court Nov. 20. They are charged with trafficking cocaine.
Drug trafficking charges have been stayed against 21-year-old Zachary Knight and 34-year-old Daniel Norgaard. When the Crown stays charges they can be brought back to life within 12 months but this rarely happens.
The arrests started in February with Koberinski, Laliberte, Budinski, Knight, and Norgaard. Two months later, Mason-Lank and Pooyak were arrested.
The gang unit used numerous investigational techniques, including covert strategies and surveillance to gather information. The investigation determined illicit drugs, originating from Edmonton, were being trafficked in the Battlefords area through a phone-in delivery service.
The drug trafficking investigation in the Battlefords started in August 2022. To dismantle the drug trafficking operation, the Battlefords RCMP Gang Task Force had help from RCMP Battlefords Municipal General Investigation Section (GIS), Battlefords and Saskatoon Provincial GIS, Crime Reduction Team, Warrant Enforcement Response Team, Police Dog Services, Integrated Intelligence Units and Battlefords detachment, the Edmonton Police Service Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit (EDGE), Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT), Edmonton Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), and Strathcona RCMP.
In the drug bust, two vehicles were stopped, one which was an on-shift drug delivery vehicle in the Battlefords area, and simultaneous search warrants were executed at numerous homes in the Battlefords and Edmonton areas.
Police seized eight kilograms of cocaine, 281 grams of Xanax tablets, more than 5,000 pre-rolled cannabis joints, 898 cartons of contraband cigarettes, more than 10 kilograms of a cutting agent, a large sum of cash, and four illegal handguns after executing the search warrants.
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