Booze ban a bust

Rankin Inlet police found a ban on alcohol in their community over the holidays failed to keep booze from flowing.

RCMP report that alcohol was involved in all 16 arrests made in Rankin Inlet between Christmas and the early New Year.

Sgt. Grant St. Germaine said “out-of-province” airlines and liquor authorities needed to co-operate more with the hamlet council’s ban on booze, in order to keep the community dry.

“There was an alcohol ban in the community,” St. Germaine said. “But there somehow seemed to be alcohol coming in.”

St. Germaine noted that residents might have bypassed the ban by ordering alcohol from Iqaluit, which wouldn’t require a permit. He applauded local airlines like First Air and Canadian North for respecting the ban.

However, police did crack down on suspected bootleggers over the holidays. Police arrested a husband and wife accused of illegally selling liquor, after seizing 40 40-oz. bottles of vodka.

The couple will appear in court on Feb. 1. Police also seized marijuana from their house.