The Antigonish-Guysborough Street Crime Enforcement Unit (SCEU) has charged five people following a 12-month drug trafficking investigation named Project Homecoming.
Last January, RCMP began an investigation into a group actively targeting young people to sell drugs to, prompting a coordinated investigation.
On May 29, after gathering intelligence that a 21-year-old man was arranging to sell a significant quantity of cocaine, the Antigonish-Guysborough SCEU – supported by the Pictou County Integrated Street Crime Enforcement Unit (PCISCEU), Antigonish County District RCMP, and the Criminal Intelligence Service Nova Scotia – safely arrested the suspect on Main Street in Antigonish. A search of the man led to the seizure of the illicit drug.
On September 11, Antigonish-Guysborough SCEU members, assisted by PCISCEU, the Port Hawkesbury Street Crime Enforcement Unit, Antigonish County District RCMP, and Guysborough County District RCMP, executed search warrants at residences in Antigonish County and Guysborough County. A 26-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were safely arrested, and officers seized cocaine, ecstasy, and cash from the two homes.
In December, police arrested a 20-year-old man and a youth as a result of the investigation.
Ashtyn Jade MacEachern, 21, of Afton faces two counts of trafficking and one count each of possession for the purpose of trafficking and resisting arrest.
Brydon Christopher MacEachern, 26, of Antigonish faces two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one trafficking charge.
Virginia Leigh Gibbins, 28, of Antigonish faces two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Jasiah James O’Hara, 20, of Havre Boucher faces five counts of trafficking. Police also charged a youth with two counts of trafficking.
The investigation remains ongoing, with additional charges anticipated. All individuals were released on conditions and are scheduled to appear in Antigonish Provincial Court at later dates.