Dawson City police arrested a drug dealer and his associate following two simultaneous raids on different hotels in the town last Thursday.
At approximately 1 p.m., RCMP officers carried out search warrants for rooms in the two Dawson hotels. Their names have been withheld.
In one room, police seized about 230 tablets of a substance “believed to be ecstasy,” small amounts of cocaine and marijuana, drug-dealing paraphernalia and about $1,000 in cash.
In the other room, they grabbed an undisclosed amount of crack cocaine.
The rooms’ occupants were apprehended.
Dawson resident Michael Stephen Mackenzie, 24, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking (ecstasy) and two counts of possession of a controlled substance (marijuana and cocaine).
Vancouver’s James Collin McClung, 25, was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance (crack cocaine).
Dawson RCMP Sgt. Dan Gaudet would not reveal the sources of any tips that led to the busts, in order to preserve confidentiality, but declared they were the result of “fantastic police investigation.”
Both men were associated, Gaudet said Tuesday.
MacKenzie and McClung were released from custody and are scheduled to appear in court on September 26 and November 2 respectively in Dawson City.
The drugs have been sent to police laboratories for analysis.
Girls attacked in Riverdale
Three drunken girls chased another group of girls through the streets of Riverdale and beat them up Sunday evening, according to Whitehorse RCMP.
At about 10 p.m., three “relatively intoxicated” girls, aged 14, 17 and 21, attacked a group of four girls, aged 14, 16, 20 and 23, outside Super A Foods on Lewes Boulevard.
The victims ran north to Teslin Road.
The two youngest girls escaped.
“They feared for their safety so they took off and called the police,” said Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward on Tuesday.
But the two elder girls weren’t as quick.
They were caught and beaten.
The 23-year-old went to hospital and was treated for minor head injuries.
She was released, but returned the following day for further examination.
The 20-year-old suffered minor injuries.
The motivation for the attack is still unclear, said Milward.
“That’s all going to be part of the investigation as to whether they were known to each other or what this was about — besides alcohol playing a factor in it.”
There was no indication of weapons used, “just physical punching, hair pulling and that sort of stuff,” he said.
The names of the assailants — all First Nations girls — could not be released pending charges.
The names of those under 18 years of age cannot be released in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Charges for intoxication and assault are expected to be formally laid later today or Thursday.
Fatal accident
On Friday, A 75-year-old Whitehorse woman was killed in an accident on Robert Service Way, according to Whitehorse RCMP.
At 9:47 p.m., Joyce Podhora was driving her 1999 Dodge Caravan camper northbound when she reached a curve between the railway crossing and the Schwatka Lake turnoff.
Podhora didn’t follow the curve. “She just kept going straight,” said Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Ross Milward on Tuesday.
She crossed the centre line and collided with a 1989 Ford Ranger truck and camper that was travelling in the opposite direction.
“She sideswiped the truck but the overhead of the camper ended up coming through the windshield of the van and struck the lady basically right in the face,” said Milward.
Podhora was pronounced dead at the scene.
Alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the crash.
James Briar of Rosedale, British Columbia, was driving the camper truck with his wife.
Neither was injured in the incident.
“Besides being obviously shaken up from the event, they were unscathed,” said Milward, adding their truck and camper were completely wrecked.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident, but Robert Service Way was closed for approximately two hours while police officers conducted their investigation.
Podhora had no immediate family in the Yukon.