RCMP in the West Kootenay have charged six Trail residents with alleged cocaine trafficking after a three-month investigation using police resources from throughout the province.

A total of 12 West Kootenay residents were charged with alleged drug trafficking in the investigation in Grand Forks, Castlegar and Kaslo.

Ten of the 12 were charged with trafficking cocaine and two with trafficking marijuana.

The investigation was led by the Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment General Investigation Section and utilized ‘advanced investigation techniques’ to target traffickers.

“There are a certain number of distribution networks, cocaine is not native to our country so we know it’s all smuggled in,” said Inspector Nick Romanchuk of the Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment RCMP.

“It wasn’t necessarily brought over the border in all cases in the Kootenay Boundary but there is a very good likelihood that was the case.”

All individuals charged appeared in Nelson Provincial Court on Oct. 30 and were released from custody to appear at a later date except one.

“Each and every one of the communities within the West Kootenay Boundary has identified the issue of drug trafficking and organized crime as one of their primary policing concerns,” the RCMP said in a statement.

“By proactively targeting this issue we believe that we are working towards meeting the expectations of our communities and taking significant steps forward in making those communities safer places for their citizens.”

The following individuals have been charged and have made their first appearance in Nelson Provincial Court on October 30, 2009:

Crystal Patricia Kitcher, a 41 year old female from Trail charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine;

Jane Marie Fenn, a 48-year-old female from Trail charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine;

Adam Richard Leduc, a 24-year-old male from Trail charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine;

Bruce Edmund Leeming, a 55-year-old male from Trail charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine;

Lisa Shannon Melville, a 42-year-old female from Trail charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine;

Melody Grace Hutchinson, a 19-year-old female from Trail charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine;

Lillian Alicia Lidstone, a 21-year-old female from Grand Forks charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine;

James Michael Henniger, a 26-year-old male from Grand Forks charged with one count of trafficking in cocaine;

Christopher Robert Mark, a 23-year-old male from Castlegar charged with three counts of trafficking in cocaine;

Natasha McCreight, a 26-year-old female from Castlegar charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine;

David Alexander Jones, an 18-year-old male from Kaslo charged with one count of trafficking in marijuana.

All of these individuals, with the exception of Christopher Mark, have been released from custody by the courts to appear at a later date.

A warrant for the arrest of John Freeman, a 30 year old male from Kaslo, is still outstanding. Freeman has been charged with one count of trafficking in marijuana.

— with files from RCMP