33 arrested in Operation Jerrican

Residents say St. Stephen is a scary place to live, criticize police

ST. STEPHEN – Angry residents challenged the RCMP Thursday morning, demanding to know why, if police had enough evidence to raid homes and lay weapons, drug and child pornography charges against a number of individuals here, they didn’t keep the people they arrested locked up until their trials.
Surprised RCMP officers were caught off guard by the unexpected attack during a press conference to announce details of Operation Jerrican, a massive nine-month-long investigation in southwestern New Brunswick that resulted in 31 arrests in St. Stephen and two in Saint John and the seizure of at least five illegal firearms, one improvised explosive device, child pornography and cash as well as a number of other items not described in detail. The explosive device was seized in Saint John.
Search warrants were executed Tuesday, May 13 at seven residences in St. Stephen, two in Mayfield, one in Mohannes and two in Saint John.
During the course of those raids, 33 people were arrested, 23 males and 10 females, ranging in age from 15 years to 60 years. There were two youths arrested.
Police have not released the names of the people arrested and they have not been formally charged in court.
The investigation is ongoing and no court appearance dates have yet been set.
Staff Sgt. Mitch MacMillan, of the RCMP’s Customs and Excise section, described Operation Jerrican as a “major blow to organized crime in southwestern New Brunswick,” and said it was part of the RCMP’s ongoing crime reduction strategy.
However, MacMillan and the other high-level officers at the press conference Thursday, who represented the joint forces police agencies involved in Operation Jerrican, were hard pressed to convince residents that letting alleged criminals go free after their arrests was a routine course of action.
Police and residents expect to see many of those individuals end up in court.
One resident, Mindy Baxter, accused the RCMP of putting townspeople in danger by arresting suspected drug dealers and then letting them go free while they processed what she described as “paperwork” in the case.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, an irate Baxter, who said she is a lifelong resident of St. Stephen, replied with an emphatic “no” when asked by a reporter if St. Stephen was a safe place to live.
“They’ve identified all the drug dealers and brought them all out into the open. Do you think they’re gonna be happy about that?” said Baxter.
“The police need to get their ducks in a row. They say it’s legal things holding them back. Maybe they should go back to their paperwork, cross all the Ts and dot all the Is and make damn sure they have everything in order. That way they don’t put them back on the street the next day,” she said.
Baxter predicts those arrested are going to retaliate and “you’re gonna find things are going to be happening around St. Stephen that will fly under the radar because nobody can touch them.”
She’s concerned about how much protection the RCMP can provide to the town.
“The police say they are gonna protect everybody, but they don’t. They can’t be in every place at once,” she said.
Baxter said if those arrested find that someone “ratted them out” that person won’t be safe.
“We’re talking about organized crime,” she said.
During the press conference, Superintendent Rick Noble, the officer in charge of federal policing in New Brunswick, said that when police refer to organized crime they are not necessarily referring to biker gangs or mafia. He said organized crime can be any group of three or more people continually committing criminal activity and using the profits from those crimes to support their lifestyles.
He said the police departments were targeting people in New Brunswick communities who are causing the most harm.
“We’re getting them off our streets,” he said.
“By targeting these people, crime will go down significantly,” said Noble. “New Brunswick is a very safe place to live, but we would be naïve to think organized crime doesn’t exist in this province.”
Several women present in the crowd demanded to know if the child pornography police seized featured any local children.
Sgt. Derek Strong, the media relations officer for the RCMP, said all the pornography seized will be examined. He said child porn rarely features children who live in the community where it was seized.
“How do we know our kids are safe?” asked Denica Calhoun.
“Child pornography really shocks me and makes me sick to my stomach,” she said.
“Who’s to say it’s not local children. They could have gone on our school ground and taken pictures of our local children. You can do anything on the internet with a picture now. You can take a fully dressed child and put it naked on the internet and some child molester can get hold of it. It’s sick,” she said.
Strong noted that members of the public outnumbered members of the media and RCMP at the press conference, adding that was a good thing. Besides local residents, Mayor Allan Gillmor and mayor-designate Jed Purcell were in attendance as was deputy mayor Robert Tinker, fire chief Jeff Richardson and CAO Hendrik Slegtenhorst.
Purcell was asked if St. Stephen has a drug problem.
“I’m sure there is,” he said.
Purcell said Operation Jerrican was a good start to reducing that drug problem.
“We have a very good police force,” he said.
Purcell was asked if residents felt any frustration over the town’s drug problem.
“I can’t answer that. I don’t know, I’ve never experienced it, but I do think they’re afraid,” he said.
Operation Jerrican was launched last September, beginning as an investigation into the illegal importation of firearms from the United States into the St. Stephen area.
That investigation led police to a significant amount of other illegal activity, said MacMillan.
The operation was a joint effort between several RCMP districts and RCMP federal units in New Brunswick acting with the Canada Border Services Agency, the Saint John City Police Force, the Rothesay Regional Police Force, U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
The drugs seized included prescription drugs and crack cocaine. The cash seized was not a large amount, said police.