Yellowknife drug busts: What do I do if I think my neighbour is a dealer?

How does it feel to live next door to a house you think is home to a drug dealer? And what, if anything, can you do about it?

Some Yellowknife residentsknow the answer to the first question and may be asking the second after watching the latest round of drug busts across the city on Thursday night.

• Yellowknife RCMP charge 11 after months-long drug investigation

In the wake of the busts, dozens of residents used Facebook to share their experiences with the CBC, though few wanted their name published. Many said their suspected next-door dealers remained in place despite the raids.

"None of the [dealers'] activities are very subtle," resident Susan Martin wrote online, describing cabs turning up "like crazy" outside the house next door.

"The dealers either think they are invincible or they just don't care about being caught."

'It's a nightmare'

A woman living off Williams Avenue, who asked for anonymity, said a suspected drug dealer had spent the past seven years in the adjoining home.

"His clients end up getting mixed up with my house every other night, waking me and my kids," she said. "It's a nightmare to say the least.

"I have reported these people to the housing authority, but they say they can't do too much unless they get busted.

"It's just so bad for me and my family."

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has clear advice for tenants: contact the RCMP as soon as you have concerns. You can do that by speaking to your local detachment, calling Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477 or even flagging down an officer in the street.

What to tell the police

"We hear a lot of rumours in communities, and that can be valuable," said RCMP Const. Sam Holm.

"But we are more interested in hard evidence.For example, if you're noticing a lot of vehicle traffic to a residence or if people that you feel are unsavoury characters are coming or going."

Once they have that information, RCMP promise they'll look into each complaint perhaps by keeping watch on the property or asking local sources if the house is known to them. If the evidence mounts, a full investigation is undertaken.

But that can take months,sometimes years. Holm says that can be hard for residents to understand and live with.

"We ask for patience from the public," he said. "You may give a tip on a residence and then worry, two or three months down the road, that nothing has happened.

"But there may be a flurry of activity behind the scenes on our part, gathering the information for a warrant and an arrest."

Don't go rogue

It's unlikely theRCMP will call with an update, which can befrustrating for residents who pass on information then potentially spend years living with the same problem, not knowing if anything will change.

Holm urges any resident in that situation to sit tight. Taking matters into your own hands, in any form, puts your safety at risk and might disturb an ongoing investigation.

When drug busts do happen, they can be terrifying for neighbours: Yellowknifers spoke to the CBC of shouting, fighting and weapons on display as police broke into next-door homes.

AgaintheRCMP'sadvice is simple: stay inside. Police need the element of surprise so residents will never receive advance warning. And anyone leaving their house could confuse an already complex situation.

Big stakes, small town

All of this overlooks one complicating factor in Yellowknife: sometimesyour neighbour is someone you've known for years.

A health-care worker in the city contacted us to say there are drug dealers "quite clearly" at work next to her house.

However, she added: "It's tough on longtime Yellowknifers, such as myself, who personally know a lot of these dealers. We go way back.

"I hate what they do, but at the same time, I don't want to take part in them getting busted because I know them and their families.

"I guess we just sit around waiting for them to get busted organically. And when that happens, we breathe a sigh of relief."