Thirty-Five People Were Arrested and Not One Charge Has Been Announced: Kamloops RCMP Publish a Three-Day Organized-Crime Sweep Sixteen Days After It Ended, With Thirty-Two Weapons Nobody Has Described and a Hundred and Fifty-Nine Grams of Drugs (September 21, 2026)
The Kamloops RCMP issued a news release on Monday, September 21, 2026 describing a coordinated three-day deployment that ended sixteen days earlier. The detachment says its Proactive Enforcement Team worked Kamloops and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc from September 3 to September 5, 2026 in an operation aimed at disrupting alleged organized crime, gang activity, drug trafficking and prolific offenders. Officers ran proactive patrols, compliance checks and vehicle stops in areas the release says were identified through ongoing investigations and police intelligence. The three days produced twenty-four investigations, thirty-five arrests, thirty-two seized weapons, roughly 159 grams of illicit drugs, about $1,755 in what police call offence-related cash, and one recovered stolen vehicle. No accused is named, no age is given for anyone, and no criminal charge is announced against any of the thirty-five.
Thirty-five arrests, no charge sheet
The number of arrests is the headline figure in both the release and the coverage that followed it, and it is the figure with the least attached to it. The release does not say how many of the thirty-five were released at the scene, how many were held, how many were arrested on outstanding warrants rather than for anything found that day, or how many of the twenty-four investigations remain open. It does not say whether any charge has since been sworn, or whether any of the thirty-five has appeared in court in the sixteen days between the end of the operation and its publication.
An arrest is not a charge, and the release does not bridge the two. What it publishes instead is a total.
Thirty-two weapons, no description of any of them
Thirty-two weapons is close to one per arrest, and neither the release nor the reporting says what any of them were. The word used throughout is “weapons,” not firearms. Nothing in the public record states how many, if any, were guns; whether any was restricted or prohibited; whether any was loaded; whether ammunition was recovered; or whether any person arrested was already bound by a firearms prohibition or a court order. A photograph supplied by the RCMP and published by Castanet shows drugs, weapons and cash laid out together, and is the only description of the seizure the public has been given.
A hundred and fifty-nine grams across twenty-four investigations
The drug figure is small and precise: approximately 159 grams, under six ounces, for the whole three days. The release does not break that total down by substance and does not put a street value on it. The $1,755 in cash is described as offence-related without any explanation of what that determination rests on, and the release does not say whether any proceeds-of-crime count has been laid. The recovered stolen vehicle is reported without a make, a model, or a note on whether anyone was charged in connection with it.
What the release publishes — and what it does not
- Published: 24 investigations generated; 35 arrests; 32 weapons seized; approximately 159 grams of illicit drugs; approximately $1,755 in offence-related cash; one stolen vehicle recovered; the operating dates September 3–5, 2026; the unit, described as a Proactive Enforcement Team; the geography, Kamloops and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc; and a quotation from Superintendent Jeff Pelley.
- Not published: any name; any age; any hometown; any charge, against any of the thirty-five; any custody status; any court date; any file or occurrence number; any description of any of the 32 weapons, including whether any was a firearm; any breakdown of the 159 grams by substance; any street value; any per-item cash figure; any address, neighbourhood or block; the size of the deployment; and the number of investigations still open.
- Named organizations: none. Police describe the target as “alleged organized crime, gang activity, drug trafficking and prolific offenders” without identifying a single group, club or network.
The funding line
CTV News Vancouver reports that the operation was supported in part by money from British Columbia’s Special Investigations and Targeted Enforcement Program, and that the detachment says the funding lets it give officers specialized training in targeting violent and high-risk offenders. The release does not state how much SITE money the detachment received, what portion of this deployment it paid for, or whether the program requires reporting against the arrest and seizure totals now published.
What Superintendent Pelley said
Superintendent Jeff Pelley, the officer in charge of the Kamloops detachment, is the only person quoted. “This deployment highlights our ongoing commitment to community safety through proactive and targeted policing,” he says in the release. He adds that the team “remains focused on disrupting alleged organized crime, drug trafficking, and prolific offenders while continuing enforcement efforts throughout Kamloops and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.” He names no group and describes no specific file.
Timeline
- September 3, 2026Kamloops RCMP begin a coordinated three-day deployment in Kamloops and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, using proactive patrols, compliance checks and vehicle stops in areas the detachment says were identified through investigations and police intelligence.
- September 5, 2026The deployment ends. Over the three days it generates 24 investigations and 35 arrests, and produces 32 weapons, approximately 159 grams of illicit drugs, approximately $1,755 in cash and one recovered stolen vehicle.
- September 21, 2026Sixteen days after the operation closes, the Kamloops RCMP publish a news release with the totals and a quotation from Superintendent Jeff Pelley. No accused is named and no charge is announced.
- September 21, 2026 — 2:13 p.m. PacificCastanet Kamloops carries the release under Josh Dawson’s byline, with an RCMP handout photograph of the seized drugs, weapons and cash.
- September 21, 2026 — 2:28 p.m. PacificCTV News Vancouver carries it under Todd Coyne’s byline, adding the detail that the operation drew on B.C.’s Special Investigations and Targeted Enforcement Program funding.
Detachment issuing the release; Proactive Enforcement Team conducted the deployment
Officer in charge, Kamloops RCMP detachment; the only person quoted
Provincial B.C. funding stream cited as supporting the deployment in part
Sources
- Kamloops RCMP news release, Monday, September 21, 2026 — totals, operating dates, unit description and the Pelley quotation
- Josh Dawson, “Kamloops RCMP make 35 arrests, seize 32 weapons during targeted sweep,” Castanet Kamloops, September 21, 2026, 2:13 p.m. Pacific — castanet.net
- Todd Coyne, “Kamloops RCMP make 35 arrests in targeted enforcement blitz,” CTV News Vancouver, September 21, 2026, 5:28 p.m. Eastern — ctvnews.ca
No person arrested in this operation has been named by police and no charge has been announced against anyone. Nothing in this file has been tested in court. No criminal organization, street gang or outlaw motorcycle club has been identified by the RCMP in connection with the deployment.
