Drug house in Mill Woods shut down after decade of disturbances
After 10 years of complaints from neighbours over drug and criminal activity, a house in Mill Woods has been closed by provincial sheriffs.
The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit of the Alberta Sheriffs received a court order to close the southeast Edmonton property at 6707 32 Ave. for 90 days. All people living in the home, including the property owner, were required to leave it under the order starting Thursday.
The house has been boarded up and fenced off, and has had its locks changed.
The moves to close down the house have neighbours feeling relieved and safer after enduring disturbances and property damage over the years.
Pauline Wilson, who lives two doors down from the house, said people coming and going from the house would make a lot of noise, describing 'yelling and screaming over there.'
She said once she and her neighbours petitioned the sheriffs and the City of Edmonton, officials moved quickly to shut it down in a month's time, Wilson said.
Drug house
Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a house in Mill Woods after 10 years of complaints from neighbours about drug and criminal activity there.
(Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton)
'It's about time they started cracking down on these places,' she told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday. 'They're not good for a neighbourhood. They're not good for children. It makes the whole neighbourhood safer, and I'm really glad they're gone.'
Pyol Awac, who lives across the street from the problem house for seven years, said he and his family dealt with damage to their vehicle by people associated with the house. They had to park their vehicle behind the house to avoid further damage, but now, his wife feels comfortable enough to park it in front of their house again.
'I'm safe now, better than before,' he told CTV News Edmonton.
Since 2009, SCAN has investigated the property six times, twice resulting in orders temporarily closing the house and evicting people living there.
Police had visited the property more than 250 times since the start of 2015.
There were two fatal drug overdoses at the house in 2022.
People who lodged complaints with police reported suspicious people, assaults, drug possession and drug trafficking at the property.
SCAN told CTV News Edmonton the owner of the property now plans to sell it.
Karen Teng, the city councillor who represents the area, said efforts by the neighbours to report the activity at the house was key in helping the city and police take action to deal with it.
'Based on what I'm hearing and what I'm understanding, it takes some time, neighbours reporting, all those things matter,' Teng told CTV News Edmonton last week.
'This is why we have dedicated policies, dedicated resources. This is why we're taking a multi-disciplinary approach to this ... some of these properties are fairly complex. You may not run into one issue – gang violence, for example – you may run into homelessness and housing issues or squatting, so it does take a concerted effort.'
Since it began in 2008, the SCAN unit has investigated more than 10,000 properties and has issued more than 130 community safety orders.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
9 hours ago
- CBC
Parents devastated after fire damages Edmonton school playground
A school playground in northwest Edmonton is now closed after a fire burned through it. Police say the fire suspicious and are investigating. The parent association at St. Pius X spent nine years to raise $500,000 to have the playground go up and say they are determined to build again.
CTV News
10 hours ago
- CTV News
Drug house in Mill Woods shut down after decade of disturbances
Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a house in Mill Woods after 10 years of complaints from neighbours about drug and criminal activity there. After 10 years of complaints from neighbours over drug and criminal activity, a house in Mill Woods has been closed by provincial sheriffs. The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit of the Alberta Sheriffs received a court order to close the southeast Edmonton property at 6707 32 Ave. for 90 days. All people living in the home, including the property owner, were required to leave it under the order starting Thursday. The house has been boarded up and fenced off, and has had its locks changed. The moves to close down the house have neighbours feeling relieved and safer after enduring disturbances and property damage over the years. Pauline Wilson, who lives two doors down from the house, said people coming and going from the house would make a lot of noise, describing 'yelling and screaming over there.' She said once she and her neighbours petitioned the sheriffs and the City of Edmonton, officials moved quickly to shut it down in a month's time, Wilson said. Drug house Alberta Sheriffs have closed down a house in Mill Woods after 10 years of complaints from neighbours about drug and criminal activity there. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton) 'It's about time they started cracking down on these places,' she told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday. 'They're not good for a neighbourhood. They're not good for children. It makes the whole neighbourhood safer, and I'm really glad they're gone.' Pyol Awac, who lives across the street from the problem house for seven years, said he and his family dealt with damage to their vehicle by people associated with the house. They had to park their vehicle behind the house to avoid further damage, but now, his wife feels comfortable enough to park it in front of their house again. 'I'm safe now, better than before,' he told CTV News Edmonton. Since 2009, SCAN has investigated the property six times, twice resulting in orders temporarily closing the house and evicting people living there. Police had visited the property more than 250 times since the start of 2015. There were two fatal drug overdoses at the house in 2022. People who lodged complaints with police reported suspicious people, assaults, drug possession and drug trafficking at the property. SCAN told CTV News Edmonton the owner of the property now plans to sell it. Karen Teng, the city councillor who represents the area, said efforts by the neighbours to report the activity at the house was key in helping the city and police take action to deal with it. 'Based on what I'm hearing and what I'm understanding, it takes some time, neighbours reporting, all those things matter,' Teng told CTV News Edmonton last week. 'This is why we have dedicated policies, dedicated resources. This is why we're taking a multi-disciplinary approach to this ... some of these properties are fairly complex. You may not run into one issue – gang violence, for example – you may run into homelessness and housing issues or squatting, so it does take a concerted effort.' Since it began in 2008, the SCAN unit has investigated more than 10,000 properties and has issued more than 130 community safety orders. With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune
CTV News
12 hours ago
- CTV News
‘I think it's Canada at its finest': Stampede wraps up blockbuster 2025 event
Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, walks on stage with Stampede Princess Breanna Correia as he attends the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alta., Friday, July 4, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh) If the Calgary Stampede was a baseball player, it would probably be Shohei Otani: all anyone wants to talk about is whether this year will break the record they set last year. Sunday morning, Stampede Chief Executive Officer Joel Cowley met the press and ran through a few numbers as he gave a post-mortem on the massive festival that was expected to draw upwards of 1.5 million visitors in 2025. 'I'll hit the first thing that's most on your minds right up front,' Cowley said. 'Are we going to break the attendance record? We very well may and we very well may not. It's that close to last year's attendance.' Saturday's attendance was 150, 974, bringing the total for the 2025 festival to 1,384,584, around 130,000 short of setting the record with Sunday's numbers still to come. Big crowds, big challenges Of course, the massive turnout in 2025 has produced its own set of challenges, most notably on Tuesday night, when three people were stabbed and a concert at the Coca-Cola Stage was packed on the hottest night of Stampede on a day that drew 193,000 visitors to the grounds. 'Bringing 1.4 million plus people to a common location over 10 days, is not without its challenges,' Cowley said, 'and as you're all aware, we had an assault in the park on Tuesday night.' 2025 Calgary Stampede Midway Views from the WestJet Sky Ride during the Calgary Stampede on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Calgary, Alberta. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP) (Amy Harris/Amy Harris/Invision/AP) Targeted attack Cowley said police are still gathering video of the stabbing and have not made any arrests partly because the victims won't talk. 'Apparently, the victims are not cooperating with regard to identifying who the assailants were, because these were known parties,' he said. 'This was a targeted altercation. That's incredibly disheartening for an event like ours that is supposed to be a celebration that someone would come on grounds and look to do harm to others.' He said investigation was continuing into how the weapon managed to make its way onto the grounds. 'Did it come through our security? Was it acquired on grounds? It's really hard to make any adjustments, but I will tell you that our security protocols are evaluated daily,' he said. Calgary Stampede Coke Stage lineup The 2025 Calgary Stampede Coca-Cola Stage lineup will include Simple Plan, Arkells and Diplo. (File) Safe and secure 'Working with our security team, our providers in Calgary Police Service, we also know that going into 2026 one of our focal points will be continuing to evolve The Coke Stage -- because we want our guests there to be comfortable and feel safe and secure,' Cowley said. 'We had two very large, high volume nights this last week, and we know that some of our guests did not feel comfortable,' so we will continue to evaluate that that is at the very, very top of our list, and continue to evolve The Coke Stage presentation, whether that involve additional crowd control measures or evaluating which artists are placed on the Coke Stage." He said efforts are already underway to make the crowded Coke Stage feel safer for guests. Stampede Grounds, July 2, 2022 The grounds are being transformed to accommodate, food trucks, festival games and the midway rides as staff stay busy constructing them 'We set up an alternate viewing area in South Park, so just east of the dog bowl, there's a covered pavilion there,' Cowley said. 'And we put in a video screen, we put in a high quality sound system, and we had cold beverages there, where people could go there and watch if they weren't comfortable standing in the crowd and actually sit on the grass and watch. 'My understanding is that wasn't heavily used,' he added. 'The crowds that were going to the Coke Stage wanted to be there present at the Coke Stage. 'But drawing that number of people when we're really not sure how many are coming for a particular concert, that's really what we have to focus on, 'he said, 'whether that includes some additional barriers that that partition the crowd off so that they can't just freely crowd toward the front of the stage. 'And I actually have some of our team traveling to another event probably next week to see what they do with crowds -- but we also have to evaluate which artists we place on that stage, because we know these high demand artists, those that draw a younger crowd, tend to be a little less really than, say, a classic rock band that goes there.' Calgary Stampede fireworks display A visitor watches the fireworks display from the midway at the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Saturday, July 9, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh) Visitors from away Cowley also broke down the demographics of Stampede, which are around 73 per cent local and 27 per cent visitors from out of town. He said Stampede 2025 drew quite a few Canadians who were looking for a quintessentially Canadian experience this year. 'Those are people who are coming here, who are booking hotel rooms. They're people who are coming here to eat in restaurants, and that's what generates economic impact, because that money is coming to Calgary that would not otherwise come to Calgary, if it weren't for the Calgary Stampede,' he said. Pierre Poilievre, July 5, 2025 Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre dropped by the Calgary Stampede Saturday to speak to the party faithful. (Photo: Darren Wright, CTV Calgary) 'Last year, nine per cent were from Alberta, but not Calgary, (while) 10 per cent were from Canada, but not Alberta. 'The remaining eight per cent were international. three per cent of those being U.S., and five per cent 'other.' He said Stampede 2025 drew quite a few Canadians who were looking for a quintessentially Canadian experience this year. 'It looks like Canadians were looking for a true Canadian experience in coming to the Calgary Stampede.' His favourite comment, he said, came from the Irish ambassador when he asked what he thought of the Calgary Stampede. 'His response was, 'I think it's Canada at its finest,'' Cowley said. With files from CTV's Jordan Kanygin
