Five men arrested on drug charges in Halifax

QRU Efforts Results in Drug Charges

Five men faces charges after two separate traffic stops on Friday.

The first incident took place at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday after officers assigned to the East Quick Response Unit (EQRU) observed a drug transaction in the 200 block of Windmill Road. Two men left in a vehicle which was stopped on Wyse Road. Both men in the vehicle were arrested without incident and a subsequent search resulted in a quantity of crack cocaine being seized.

Eighteen-year-old Devon Demarko Smith of North Preston was scheduled to appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today to face charges of drug trafficking. A 53-year-old North Preston man is also facing charges of drug trafficking and is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

The second incident took place at 11:26 p.m. when officers assigned to the Central Quick Response Unit (CQRU) noticed a suspicious vehicle in the city’s north end. A traffic stop was conducted at Novalea Drive and Livingstone Place and three men were arrested. A subsequent search resulted in a quantity of marijuana and drug paraphernalia being seized.

A 28-year-old Dartmouth man, a 21-year-old Halifax man and a 20-year-old Truro man all face drug trafficking charges and are scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial Court at a later date.

The Quick Response Unit is an important part of the Halifax Regional Police crime reduction strategy, with a separate unit for each of our three divisions. The members in these Units usually work in a plain clothes capacity and address crime and quality-of-life issues.