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FEBRUARY 27, 2019 | Volume 32 No. 17
WEATHER Cloudy and cool High -4 C Low -11 C SNOW REPORT Sun Peaks Resort Mid-mountain: 143 cm Alpine: 181 cm Harper Mountain Total snow: 144 cm
WEDNESDAY
And the winners are . . . found on A17 to A25 in today’s edition of KTW
SELLING THE BIG E
HOW DID THEY VOTE? At the regional district meetings, it’s hard to say
Street newspaper vendors find purpose with publication
COMMUNITY/A15
NEWS/A7
Decade sentence for Kamloops gangster CROWN SAID TWENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD ERWIN DAGLE CONTROLLED THE CITY’S FENTANYL MARKET IN 2017 TIM PETRUK
STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
POSTGAME PLANS
Legendary OLPH teacher and coach Jack Isenor is stepping down after nearly 40 years at the North Shore school. Also retiring is longtime teacher Mark Backmeyer. KTW’s Marty Hastings writes about the indelible bond the pair created at the tight-knit school. STORY/A30. DAVE EAGLES/KTW
GRANDIR EN FRANÇAIS
A Kamloops gangster believed to have been controlling the majority of the city’s fentanyl supply in 2017 has been sentenced to a decade in a federal prison. Erwin Dagle, a high-ranking member of the Red Scorpions gang in Kamloops, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday to spend 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to seven counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The 24-year-old was arrested twice in a five-month span in 2017 in connection with large seizures of drugs and cash. Federal Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi said a March 30, 2017, bust at Dagle’s Sun Rivers home turned up an assortment of hard drugs, including fentanyl and carfentanil, with an estimated street value of $250,000. An Aug. 24, 2017, raid at a Columbia Street motel where Dagle had been arrested while leaving moments earlier resulted in the seizure of about $176,000 worth of drugs. Police also seized more than $20,000 in cash. “These are extremely serious offences,” Varesi said.
“It’s quite possible that the majority of fentanyl in the city was coming from Mr. Dagle’s residence and the hotel room.” Varesi told court that police in Kamloops became aware about Red Scorpions involved in the local drug trade in October 2016 and Dagle soon popped up on the radar of investigators. By January 2017, Varesi said, Dagle had “assumed more responsibilities” within the gang. The Sun Rivers bust turned up 1.3 kilograms of cocaine, 717 grams of meth, 448 grams of fentanyl and 56 grams of a mixture of heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil. Police also seized more than $5,600 in cash, two scales, a replica gun and packaging materials. The motel raid resulted in the seizure of 1,040 grams of cocaine, 458 grams of meth, 238 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin and 167 grams of fentanyl. Police also found more than 32 grams of fentanyl and $16,000 cash in a backpack Dagle was carrying. Defence lawyer John Gustafson said Dagle was born in the Philippines and grew up mainly in Calgary. See DAGLE, A4
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