North Bay police chief concerned with amount of street drugs in the city
Police have arrested eight people in the last week in relation to drug busts, and Chief Scott Tod told CTV News this is concerning.
“We do have a drug problem in North Bay,” Tod said.
“We do have a growing number of individuals in our community that use drugs. My biggest concern is what it’s doing to the people in our community -- it destroys families, it destroys relationships it destroys people from being employed.”
Of the eight people recently arrested, the majority are from North Bay, but Tod said that isn’t always the case.
“We’ve been very successful at targeting people coming into our community to sell drugs, people largely from the Greater Toronto area, and also from Ottawa and Montreal,” he said.
“We’ve also seen an increase in trafficking of a larger weight of drugs within our community by local people that are associated to North Bay in general.”
City Coun. George Maroosis has been on council for the majority of the last 40 years, and he said street drugs have been a problem in North Bay for a while now.
What concerns him is the number of overdoses the drugs lead to.
“Since we are the Gateway City and you can go in all directions, I’m sure we have a multitude of drugs that pass through here,” Maroosis said.
“I’m concerned about street drugs because that’s when we get into the overdoses. We’ve had an epidemic in the north -- not only in North Bay -- of drug overdoses.”
The most recent arrest police made saw them seize more than $100,000 in illegal drugs. Tod said recently, each drug call police have dealt with seems to be for a significant amount of drugs.
“The last three arrests that we have made of a combination of groups of people, we see a larger amount of drugs being seized and cash on those people also,” he said.
“Yes it is concerning, that we believe people profiting from trafficking drugs in our community and that’s very distressing as the chief of police to see that happening.”
Police said drugs they are most often seeing are cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israel attacks Iran, Reuters sources say; drones reported over Isfahan
Israel has attacked Iran, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Iranian state media reported early on Friday that its forces had destroyed drones, days after Iran launched a retaliatory drone strike on Israel.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking, researchers say
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
Judge says 'no evidence fully supports' murder case against Umar Zameer as jury starts deliberations
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost names one celebrity who is great at hosting 'Saturday Night Live'
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn't over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
'Shopaholic' author Sophie Kinsella reveals brain cancer diagnosis
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.