Inuvik RCMP allege drug charges did not slow trade at home of accused man

According to the RCMP, a man facing drug trafficking and bootlegging charges in Inuvik, N.W.T., was conducting business as usual seven months after being charged and released.

Talal Khatib, 64, was arrested and charged with drug trafficking and bootlegging last May. In January he was charged again with three more counts of drug trafficking and a weapons charge.

In information police swore to get a search warrant, they say that whenthey were in the man's Raven Street home in January, several people approached a back window asking for "weed" and "salvia" (Salvia divinorum, a psychoactive drug).

None of the information in the search warrant has been tested in court.

Man called RCMP

Police say they were there to investigate a complaint from Khatib about an intoxicated male outside his home.

They say when they arrived, they found an intoxicated man outside. According to one of the officers who responded, the man said he tried to buy a bottle from Khatib. He saidKhatib had tried to sell him crack instead and then pulled a large knife and started waving it at him.

Khatib told police the intoxicated man had pulled a knife on him. According to one of the officers, Khatib had a cut on his hand. Khatib told police he got it from a window in his home. Police say they asked to see the window and he allowed them in and told them to follow him.

They say that while looking at the window, they noticed an open drawer with marijuana paraphernalia, small bits of a white rock-like substance and two plastic bags with many small paper packages inside.

Search warrant

Police quickly got a search warrant and went back for a closer look.

They say they found more than a pound of marijuana, eight grams of cocaine, a bag labelled "base" filled with white powder, 150 grams of salvia and just under $5,000 in cash.

Police say that when they searched Khatib after arresting him, they found another $300 in bundles in three of his pockets.

Khatib is now facing a total of six drug charges, two charges of bootlegging and one weapons charge. He has pleaded not guilty to bootlegging and two of the drug charges.

He's scheduled to appear in court in Inuvik at the end of the month.