INNISFAIL – Mounties have nabbed a local woman in connection to one of two high value weapons seizures in the Innisfail area.
The two unrelated seizures and arrests occurred west of town and include the Innisfail woman, a Red Deer man and two males from Rimbey.
"They are really good arrests. That one rifle in particular was an old Second World War machine gun. Any time we can get firearms like that off the streets it’s good news,” said Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk.
The Second World War weapon he referred to was from a Jan. 1 bust that Innisfail RCMP members made at a traffic stop on Rge. Rd. 25. Mounties seized a Suomi M-31 semi-automatic sub-machine gun, two 36 round Suomi M-31 magazines loaded with ammunition, two pistol magazines, nun chucks and other assorted ammunition.
The Suomi M-31 weapon is a firearm used by the Finnish army during the Winter War in 1940 to fight off invading forces from the Soviet Union. It was also used by the Swedish army and was exported into Baltic, European and South American countries.
As a result of the Jan. 1 bust, three people have been charged with multiple firearms offences. Charged are Jeromy Arsenault, 25, and Steven Matson, 34, both from Rimbey, and 26-year-old Katelin Savard, of Innisfail.
Four days earlier on Dec. 28, Innisfail RCMP conducted another traffic stop on Highway 54 near Spruce View and subsequently discovered a loaded sawed-off shotgun, ammunition, face masks, break-in tools and a controlled substance.
Taylor Curl, 29, of Red Deer, was charged with multiple offences, including unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number, and possession of a controlled substance.
Matechuk agreed it was "alarming” to discover such dangerous caches of weaponry but declined to comment if it signals an escalation for the area. However, Matechuk did say the Innisfail area is not alone in dealing with the problem.
"We have talked to our neighbouring detachments and they are finding similar stuff. It is all over, over Central Alberta for sure,” he said. "They are not isolated occurrences.”
Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk
"They are really good arrests. That one rifle in particular was an old Second World War machine gun. Any time we can get firearms like that off the streets it's good news."
