A search warrant led Whistler police to a "significant" drug seizure at a Whistler Cay home last week, confirmed the RCMP.
On Friday, Dec. 14, Whistler RCMP executed the warrant at a residence in the 6100 block of Eagle Drive, part of an ongoing investigation into alleged drug trafficking.
During the search of the residence, police said they found a large quantity of cash, more than five ounces of cocaine, 50 pills believed to be MDMA, and "other ancillary hard drugs," according to a release.
Although eight people were initially taken into custody, police have recommended charges of cocaine possession against a 30-year-old Australian man and a 23-year-old Whistler man, as well as a trafficking charge against a 25-year-old Whistler man.
SQUAMISH RESIDENT VICTIM OF GIFT-CARD FRAUD
A Squamish resident contacted police last week after he believed he had fallen victim to an email scam requesting payment in online gift cards.
The man reached out to Squamish RCMP on Friday, Dec. 14 after receiving an email purportedly from the president of a company he worked for "requesting money in Gift Card format," said police in a release.
The email reportedly asked the man to scan and email the Amazon gift cards after the purchase was completed.
"The complainant thought after doing this (that) it was a strange request and followed up on the email and found it to be fraudulent," police said.
The RCMP said it was "one of many" reports police receive throughout the year of scams seeking gift cards as payment.
A handful of Whistler residents fell prey to a tax scam this past year involving callers posing as Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) agents. In April, a 30-year-old server lost nearly $10,000 after a caller posing as a tax agent demanded immediate payment for back taxes, threatening jail time if she did not cooperate. Initially, the caller demanded she purchase and send the serial number to several iTunes gift cards, which she complied with. The woman ended up transferring cash in $1,000 increments to the scammers through a Bitcoin machine in the Summit Lodge.
Less than two months later, the phone scam claimed another victim, this time in Pemberton. On June 5, an individual notified Pemberton RCMP that they had received a call from someone falsely threatening for back taxes owed. In this instance, the scammer asked the victim to purchase prepaid Apple or iTunes gift cards in large quantities-a tactic similar to the earlier ploy in April.
The following month, on July 10, a person reported being defrauded out of $2,000 by a caller who, again, posed as a Canada Revenue agent and demanded payment using Bitcoin.
The CRA only sends payment notices in the mail or through its website's "My Account" services, and will never request payment in cryptocurrency or gift cards.
