A view of the fenceline at the Prince Albert Correctional Centre, although it's not clear which side of the fence the drugs were tossed over. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Drug trafficking

Woman charged after drugs tossed over fence at P.A. Correctional Centre

Aug 25, 2020 | 2:19 PM

A 30-year-old Prince Albert woman is accused of assisting a local street gang by allegedly organizing an effort to toss drugs over the P.A. Correctional Centre’s 12-foot fence.

Tara Anita Bird was charged after a nearly four-month long investigation by the Saskatchewan RCMP Crime Reduction Team. Cpl. Rob King was asked by paNOW how common these types of incidents are.

“Getting drugs into a correctional institution of any type is very difficult but where there’s a will, there’s usually a way, and someone will try to figure out a way to do it,” he said. “In this case that’s what was being done, we believe [the drugs were] actually being thrown into the correctional centre.”

Bird was neither an inmate, nor a staff member, police said.

Bird is scheduled to make her next court appearance on Sept. 17, and faces a charge of conspiracy to traffic controlled substances in association with, for the benefit of or at the direction of the Terror Squad street gang.

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Saskatchewan RCMP has two permanent Crime Reduction Teams operating in the province. Their mandate is to overtly target known criminals, prolific offenders and repeat offenders to reduce crime and make Saskatchewan safer.

The two teams travel to areas that require assistance where community safety has been identified as a concern.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell