13-year-old girl among those arrested in Halifax drugs, guns bust - TheChronicleHerald.ca

UPDATED 5:05 p.m. Friday

A 13-year-old Sambro girl is among six people arrested in a big drug and weapons bust in Halifax on Thursday night.

She and another teenager, a 17-year-old girl from Herring Cove, were picked up by police in connection with the raid on a Convoy Avenue home.

Police seized nearly $200,000 worth of drugs in the 11 p.m. search.

They confiscated 650 grams of cocaine, worth $65,000; 13,000 doses of LSD, valued at $128,000; 250 doses of ecstasy and hydromorphone, valued at $3,600; two loaded rifles and ammunition, a bulletproof vest, drug paraphernalia and some cash.

"It's concerning that you're talking about a 13-year-old female from that residence, with four males, and a 17-year-old female. It's very young to be involved in that kind of activity with the amount of drugs seized and loaded rifles," said Const. Pierre Bourdages, spokesman for the Halifax Regional Police.

"It's not a good mix."

All are facing a number of drug-trafficking and weapons-related offences, said Bourdages, adding while the girls were not living at the home, they are believed to be involved in criminal activity.

"That's why they were charged."

The two young teens were visiting the Fairview home, he said. Their names cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Bourdages said more arrests are expected as the police operation continues.

"I don't know if it's a ring," he said. "It was a lengthy investigation."

Some of those arrested are known to police, Bourdages said.

Facing charges are Jose Manuel Acosta, 25; Matthew Francis Coaker, 24; Neil MacDonald, 21; Clayton Daniel Cromwell, 21, all of Halifax.

They were expected to appear in Halifax provincial court Friday afternoon, while the two teenaged girls were to be arraigned in Halifax youth court around the same time.

Thursday's bust was the second such major police operation in Nova Scotia this week. RCMP in Cape Breton seized a cache of weapons, including an AK-47, a large amount of drugs and $20,000 in cash from a couple's home in South Side of Boularderie on Tuesday.

That massive bust came as a shock to the small rural community near North Sydney.

(ehoare@herald.ca)