Provincial gang unit spends BC Day long weekend in Kelowna

Photo: Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit

The provincial gang unit was deployed to Kelowna over the BC Day weekend for a crackdown on the street level drug trade. 

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit’s Uniform Gang Enforcement Team worked in partnership with the Kelowna RCMP to conduct vessel checks on Okanagan Lake, at marinas in addition to several bars and restaurants. 

Over the four days in Kelowna, 125 vehicles were stopped and 75 people were checked, “with the majority of those people connected to the street-level drug trade.” 

Police seized an improperly stored .308 rifles and asked three people to leave various establishments in support of Kelowna’s Inadmissible Patron Program. Officers also seized small quantities of cocaine, crystal meth, and fentanyl.

“One of the core aspects of the overall CFSEU-BC enforcement strategy are the Uniform Gang Enforcement Teams (UGET),” says Sergeant Brenda Winpenny, CFSEU-BC Media Relations Officer. 

“UGET represents the overt, tactical and specialized uniform presence of CFSEU-BC which will directly interact with individuals involved in organized criminal activity to help our Agency deliver on our mandate. Providing UGET support to Kelowna is a positive for the community and law enforcement.”

Photo: Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit