Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay men charged with liquor offences

RCMP seize 245 bottles of liquor, beer in three hamlets

RCMP have charged two people with liquor offences after seizing 247 bottles and containers of liquor, wine and beer in Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay and Arviat this week, said Sgt. Pauline Melanson.

By Nunatsiaq News

Two men face alcohol-related charges after RCMP seized more than 245 bottles and containers of liquor, beer and wine in Iqaluit, Cambridge Bay and Arviat this week.

In Iqaluit, a 78-year-old man was charged July 12 with unlawful sale of liquor and unlawful possession of liquor under the Nunavut Liquor Act.

In that instance, RCMP officers seized 219 bottles of liquor and $5,345 in cash after carrying out search warrants in the community, said Sgt. Pauline Melanson in a news release Thursday.

The accused is to appear in court Sept. 29.

On July 13, in Cambridge Bay, RCMP charged a 46-year-old man with two counts of unlawful sale of liquor. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 13.

“Recognizing that the illegal and indiscriminate sale of liquor is causing substantial harm to the community, including the death of a youth in February, the RCMP in Cambridge Bay is focused on the identification and prosecution of bootleggers in the community,” Melanson said.

In an email to Nunatsiaq News on Thursday, Melanson said a 13-year-old youth who died in February was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.320 grams alcohol per 100 ml, four times over the legal limit.

She did not provide further details about the youth’s death.

Earlier this week on July 11, RCMP in Arviat intercepted the shipment of five bottles of alcohol, three boxes of wine, 17 cans of beer and three shooters at the airport there after receiving information that two people were bringing liquor in from Winnipeg, Melanson said.

They were not charged with any offences.

“The RCMP in Arviat have seen an increase of liquor being transported into the community and would like to remind everyone that Arviat is a dry community and the possession of liquor is prohibited,” Melanson said.

 

Share This Story

(31) Comments:

  1. Posted by Northern Inuit on

    so the guy in Cambridge Bay had 21 bottles of liquor in his possession?

    who needs 21 bottles of hard liquor? nobody. bloody useless scumbag bootleggers that’s who. who would let a 13 year old have access to liquor. such a sad tale of a little kid who should never think of drinking but sadly she grew up around booze. i bet dollars to donuts that the 46 year old is the scumbag bootlegger that everyone knows.

    it’s brutal. 2 phone calls or 2 facebook messages and you can find bottle, whether it’s a 40 or a 60. nobody sells mickeys or 26’ers here. all the profit is in the 40’s and 60’s. $200 for a 40 and $300 for a 60 is the going rate.

    31
    2
    • Posted by Businessman on

      $100 for a mickey in a lot of communities. That’s a higher margin than $200 for a 40 or $300 for a 60.

      13
    • Posted by One50 on

      $150 per 375 ml in other communities. Take 60 ounce, pour it into 5 mikies and make $750.

      10
  2. Posted by Oscar on

    I think every community should rat out the bootleggers n drug dealers. We all know who they r in our communities.

    38
    3
    • Posted by josywales on

      Wish we still had the capability of banning these people from the communities where they are causing so much misery to our people.
      This was our practice in the past to ban very bad people and never to return, i.e. murderers, very ugly characters and so on from the camps or units where people resided.

      14
  3. Posted by Iq resident on

    Who’s the 78 year old man charged in Iqaluit ? With over 40k of street price booze…

    24
  4. Posted by Amend the liquor act on

    Once again, the Territory’s Liquor Act enables these types of crimes.

    If all communities were restricted, so that permits would only allow for the purchase of reasonable personal quantities of booze, nobody would legally be purchasing hundreds of bottles at once. This can easily be changed by Amending the Liquor Act to restrict purchase quantities, the same way the B&W store doesnt let someone buy 1000 cans of beer in one transaction.

    The real culprit here is the Territory for enabling these bootleggers, Full stop ✋️

    19
    7
    • Posted by John W Paul Murphy on

      Unfortunately, I suspect this was NOT Legally purchased booze. One cannot buy this quantity legally.
      This booze could have been brought up in excess baggage on the flights from down south.
      Why can’t the RCMP catch it you ask?
      Simply put they cannot search bags unless they have a reasonable reason to do so.
      A reasonable reason is, if you report to them, that you know Joe Blow is bringing it up.
      So it all comes down to the residents to report what they know.
      The RCMP need your support, not the constant putdowns they get on facebook.

      12
      5
      • Posted by Oh? on

        Paul Murphy, Arviat is a dry community, so you’re right, probably in a checked bag. But Cambay and Iqaluit are unrestricted, meaning no purchase limits. Tell me again about the law that states they cannot legally purchase these quantities?

        • Posted by John W Paul Murphy on

          I agree with you on your comment, however, the accused have been charged with illegally purchasing and selling the booze.
          Which based on the quantities involved seems to be a reasonable assumption.

          But, you do raise a valid follow-up question.

          Are there limitations, in the unrestricted communities, that the authorities will issue a permit? Surely they would not have issued permits for these quantities.

          • Posted by 867 on

            Nope, none. Go check iqaluit cargo office, there are people picking up orders of 100 bottles at once. Yes the GN knows who these people are and they call alert authorities, but until they start bootlegging, it isn’t yet an offense. If that doesn’t scream there’s a problem with the system well then I don’t know what will.

      • Posted by Ragin Ronnie on

        I am only speaking of IQ in this comment, When the GN issues a permit it knows at that point in time what is being ordered and in what quantity. This is all kept in a customer database. A quick data extract pulled on a monthly basis would provide a lot of info on whats happening here, Viewing this data over 6 months would be enlightening.

        • Posted by Maq-Pat on

          The Iqaluit man’s charges (see RCMP press release) include a violation of section 90 of the Liquor Act. That section of the Act reads: ” No person shall have or keep liquor that has not been purchased or obtained in a manner authorized by the law.” This means the Iqaluit man’s alcohol is not believed to have been legally imported to Nunavut (so the Territorial Government was never involved).

          The Cam-Bay man is not facing that charge, which likely means he bought/imported it legally (creating as you point out a paper trail, which I expect is very helpful for both identifying and convicting bootleggers).

  5. Posted by Bill on

    It’s sad. Cambridge Bay is falling apart. You got bootleggers/drugs. Kugluktuk people over riding the men’s shelter.

    14
    1
    • Posted by MyFiendMisery on

      True,cocaine is going in cambridge bay freely,it is deplorable.that comunity wil fall appart,thanks to the dealer

  6. Posted by Jesus on

    Why don’t the RCMP go after the Monsters that mail or transport this stuff? Those people live in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Montreal or any other city linked to the North. Busting locals crops up others to be used as pawns. Shame to all that sell to minors

    12
    5
    • Posted by Dry communities on

      Canada post is only a problem in dry communities. Elsewhere, in places like Iqaluit and Cambridge Bay, people are ordering industrial quantities of hard liquor and the GN is actually issuing the permits, because there’s nothing they can do about it and it’s only illegal once the buyer starts bootlegging.

      13
      2
    • Posted by John W Paul Murphy on

      The RCMP cannot simply search property arriving in the territory without grounds.

      If you know someone is transporting illegal booze/drugs, you have a responsibility to report it. THEN the RCMP can take action.

      10
      2
  7. Posted by Local Nunavut on

    Canada post should stop accepting parcels that contains alcohol in it that are being sent out to dry communities,
    And searching should be doubled because bootleggers might put their alcohol into different containers/bottles etc.

    9
    7
    • Posted by In the Know on

      Canada Post legislation prohibits searching of private mail unless there is a court order.
      That means other evidence must be secured before seizing the mail.

      11
  8. Posted by this is so foolish on

    Proabition does not work!!!!!

    16
    2
    • Posted by Hi foolish on

      Prohibition doesn’t work you say, I’ll say the same, but can you tell me what works to not have devastating consequences from alcohol in places like this ?

      • Posted by Trow1stStone on

        Both the drunk and the bootlegger is to blame,one motivated by devasting greed of money vice the other motivated by ugly viscious alchoolic addiction and loving it.

    • Posted by Tinman on

      True, prohibition didn’t work in the South because there is always someone willing to take the risk, and always someone willing to pay the price asked. However, it’s different in the North. Smaller communities mean its tougher for a bootlegger to stay unknown. Also, booze can only come by air, or for a limited period, sea. I would think that given these factors, it would be a lot easier to enforce in Northern communities. So the question then, is how does it still make it to dry communities? Is the community failing to report it? Are the police failing in their duties? Something’s not adding up.

  9. Posted by DUMBFOUNDED!! on

    tyhere are 2 northern communities in nunavik that will be over run with bootleggers selling mickies for up to 160 dollars each. since the 2 northern communities will be receiving a large payout from the mine site later this month, the violence, molestations, accidents, and or other serious accidents may or could occur. the local police know who the bootleggers are but they are having a difficult time in busting them. also it is the repeat offenders mostly

  10. Posted by enosamm on

    Why isn’t Melanson or the reporter naming names?

    10
    1
    • Posted by John W Paul Murphy on

      Why don’t the residents report the names of bootleggers/dealers to the RCMP??

      8
      2
      • Posted by HarrassBySatanisee on

        I have an ex in kingait who report me for years now,each time she drink and gets drunk and when imagining im a drug dealer and a bootlegger or what not,even calling my employer and cops to tell them about the drunken hallucination and crime she think i do when shes drunk,this is harassment

      • Posted by RatbeRat on

        Theres actualy no where to report anything online or on phone if your in nunavut,the tip line dont work,its only for NWT or ontario and other province,nothing for nunavut, 1 800 tip dont work for nunavut,since theres no crime here

  11. Posted by Victims on

    Lot of guys are going to court for that and cheating around. Calling to report it is a complete joke.

Comments are closed.