Grande Prairie RCMP’s crime reduction unit’s focus yields results in February’s operations

A Grande Prairie RCMP unit focused on reducing criminal activity spent February arresting eight people, seizing significant amounts of drugs, including opiates, methamphetamines, cocaine, and oxycodone. They laid 36 charges related to those arrests.

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S/Sgt. Billy Groenen, who oversees the specialized policing units in the Grande Prairie detachment, described the crime reduction unit’s (CRU) focus as one tasked with the targeted enforcement of prolific offenders and identifying problem areas in and around Grande Prairie.

Feb. 3 arrest

Crime reduction members were working on another call when they saw Richard Dennis Foss, 36, in what they believed was a drug deal. Foss was arrested twice in 2024 for comparable offences. They intervened and seized 36 grams of fentanyl as a result.

He was arrested and charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, and
four counts of failure to comply with release order. Following an appearance before a justice of the peace, he was remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Grande Prairie’s Alberta Court of Justice on Dec. 2.

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Feb. 19 arrests

The CRU completed a traffic stop in the Grande Prairie area that resulted in the arrests of three people. When officers searched the vehicle and the individuals, they recovered 95g of cocaine, 126 oxycodone pills, $1660 in Canadian currency, and unstamped tobacco products.

Two residents of Grande Prairie, Jody Ellen Gillott, 50, and Chace Robert Martin, 30, and one resident of Clairmont were charged with
possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking; possession of oxycodone for the purpose of trafficking; possession of property obtained by crime; and possession of unstamped tobacco.

All three were released on conditions after their arrest and are scheduled to appear before the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie on June 4.

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Feb. 20 arrest

An attempted traffic stop one day later resulted in the suspect vehicle fleeing the area and was later located by CRU members. The driver, 44-year-old Rosanna Vivian Carifelle from Peace River, was arrested. Carifelle had several outstanding warrants, including one for assault with a weapon.

A search of the vehicle she was driving resulted in finding 86 grams of methamphetamines and five grams of fentanyl. She was charged with possession of methamphetamines for hte purpose of trafficking, dangerous driving, possession of fentanyl for hte purpose of trafficking, flight from a peace officer and failure to comply with a release order. A justice of the peace remanded her into custody and scheduled her for an appearance in Peace River on April 7.

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Feb. 27 arrests

Three more were arrested when the CRU executed a traffic stop and found a handgun with extra ammunition, 13 grams of fentanyl, 33 grams of cocaine and 33 grams of methamphetamines. The gun was later determined to be stolen.

Kenneth Shea, 41, from Crooked Creek and Richard Leonard Trautman 54, from Grande Prairie were charged with with: possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking; possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking; possession of methamphetamines for the purpose of trafficking; possession of property obtained by crime under $5000; and six firearms-related offences.

Ricky Howard Vance, 41, from Grande Prairie, was charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking; possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking; possession of methamphetamines for the purpose of trafficking; possession of property obtained by crime under $5000; six firearms-related offences (x6); and failure to comply with release order.

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Shea, Trautman and Vance were all brought before a justice of the peace and originally remanded into custody. Shea and Trautman were later released. All three are scheduled to appear at the Alberta Court of Justice in Grande Prairie on April 9.

“I would like to start by thanking the members of the Grande Prairie RCMP CRU for their hard work and dedication in keeping our community safe,” said Groenen.

“Grande Prairie RCMP CRU believes in our mission to help our community and we do so by ensuring that drugs such as Fentanyl are removed from our streets and that those peddling in such goods are brought before the courts”.

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