RCMP bust of long-suspected drug house 'long time coming,' resident says

The RCMP has laid charges after a drug bust in North West River over the weekend, but an advocate in the community is pointing the finger at a lack of enforcement and the need for social programming. 

In a press release, the RCMP said they arrested a 30-year-old man Thursday in a drug bust on Sunday Hill Road in North West River, 38 kilometres north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. 

Officers laid eleven charges after seizing cocaine, about $11,500 in cash, firearms and other drug paraphernalia. The RCMP said officers returned to the home three days after the arrest and recovered stolen property. 

But the drug bust wasn't a surprise to Sheila Cooper of North West River, who lost her son, Jon, to an overdose. She said the home that was raided — she went to the scene to watch it happen — is well known in the community of about 500 people.

"There's a lot of traffic to that house, so everybody in town knows what's going on," Cooper said. "It was a long time coming."

Cooper said she believes the bust happened because former Conservative MP Peter Penashue took matters into his own in Sheshatshiu last week by smashing the windows out of a vehicle parked outside of a home.

"That could have been the straw that broke the camel's back, and maybe now something will change thanks to the man that broke those windows," Cooper said. 

Penashue was arrested March 23 after a long-simmering dispute he claims is fuelled by illicit drug dealing and police inaction in the community. 

Penashue told CBC News at the time he smashed the windows of a vehicle parked outside a house he bought for his son after the RCMP refused to respond to his concerns. Penashue said his son transferred ownership of the house in exchange for $12,000 in cash and $2,500 in cocaine. The current occupant denies Penashue's claims.

She said there has been a lack of enforcement against drug dealers in the community for years.

Cooper said Penashue was a hero and she wishes she was with him when he was arrested. 

"The whole community feels like something needs to change, and not just our community, but all the communities here. Goose Bay, Sheshatshiu, like all over, something needs to change," she said. 

Further programming, more enforcement needed: Cooper 

Cooper hopes the bust is just the start and that the other well-known homes where drug dealers operate will be raided next.

"There's still a long way to go, and you can't go anywhere as long as these dealers are still hanging out in town," she said.

Cooper hopes to see an increase in social programming for people who are using drugs to help with addictions until they're ready to become clean.

"There's not enough help," she said. "To see the users and their faces and that, it really hurts and breaks my heart, especially after my own son dying."

Sheshatshiu has a number of programs but more are needed in North West River and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Cooper said. 

Cooper said she dreams of North West River becoming a safer community and is working to do what she can by starting an organization she's calling Jon's Afterlife with the aim to provide safe supply kits for a variety of drugs. 

Cooper hopes to expand the organization to include youth programming to help kids in the town stay off of drugs by having other outlets in their lives. 

"Without any dreams or things like that and with a lot of parents on drugs, how can you expect them to understand that they can become something?" Cooper said. "My goal would be to help them see it."

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