SASKATOON - A man and woman arrested in a large drug bust have elected to be tried by judge along in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
Rudi Betthel, 54, and Tricia Karpluk, 39, had appearances in Saskatoon Provincial Court Wednesday but in separate courtrooms.
Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle told the court that Betthel wants a preliminary hearing in provincial court and elects to have a trial in Queen’s Bench without a jury. He said Michael Nolin was representing Karpluk in another courtroom in Saskatoon Provincial Court and he expects him to make the same request for his client and the two will be tried jointly.
Betthel’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 8, 2022, and case management is set for Jan. 21, 2022. A date for the judge alone trial hasn’t been set yet in in Queen’s Bench.
Betthel and Karpluk were arrested in April after police raided homes in Saskatoon and Bjorkdale following a traffic stop.
In March the Saskatoon Integrated Crime Reduction Team (S-ICRT), the RCMP Prince Albert Gang Task Force, and the Melfort and Tisdale RCMP Detachments joined forces and learned of information about the presence of large quantities of drugs in the area.
A project was established based on information gathered by the RCMP, the Prince Albert Gang Task Force, Saskatoon Police Service Drug Unit, Saskatoon Police Service Patrol members, Crime Stoppers, and the S-ICRT. The S-ICRT is made up of personnel from partner agencies from the Saskatoon Police Service and the Saskatchewan RCMP and is aimed at disrupting, curtailing and reducing criminal activity in Saskatchewan.
On April 26, the Saskatoon Police Service Tactical Support Unit conducted a vehicle stop at the investigative team's direction just outside of Saskatoon on Highway 7 near Township Road 340. Betthel, of Bjorkdale, was driving and allegedly had a significant amount of methamphetamine, Fentanyl, cocaine and related drug paraphernalia in his possession.
After the traffic stop police obtained a search warrant for a residence on the 100 block of Hara Avenue in Bjorkdale where police seized firearms, methamphetamine, ketamine, hydromorphone and additional drug paraphernalia. Police then executed a search warrant at a residence on the 300 block of Avenue N south in Saskatoon and seized drugs, a firearm and weapons.
Betthel was charged with five counts of trafficking drugs, five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and five counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Karpluk, 39, was charged with trafficking drugs, possession of proceeds obtained by crime, and three weapons-related offences.
The charges against Karpluk and Betthel haven’t been proven in court.
As a result of this investigation, the S-ICRT seized approximately 4,068 individual does of methamphetamine, 992 doses of cocaine and about 3,062 doses of Fentanyl.
The investigation included the combined joint efforts of investigative teams and support units including the RCMP Prince Albert Gang Task Force, Saskatoon Integrated Crime Reduction Team, Melfort and Tisdale RCMP Detachments, Saskatoon Air Support Unit, RCMP Special “I” Section, Saskatoon Special Investigations Unit, Regina Special “O,” Saskatoon Tactical Support Unit and the RCMP Emergency Response Team.
