Three face trafficking charges after 200 guns stolen from home

Legal firearms owner's report of break-in leads police into `complex' investigation

Edmonton city police say they have crushed a firearm-trafficking operation, netting arrests, firearms, ammunition and drugs.

More than 200 firearms — including registered, restricted, prohibited and antique guns — and ammunition were reported to police in July 2022 as stolen from a home near 151 Street and 97 Avenue.

The homeowner, a valid firearms possession and acquisition licence holder, was not present at the time of the break-in and investigators subsequently initiated a “complex” firearms trafficking investigation, police said in a Monday news release. Police have since recovered 23 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, gunpowder and quantities of fentanyl/methamphetamine with an approximate street value more than $10,000.

“We recovered a portion of what could have posed a risk to the public at some point,” acting Staff Sgt. Terence Mak of the Edmonton police crime suppression branch said in the release. “We do however have lots of work to do with recovering the remaining stolen firearms.”

On Jan. 18, police arrested and charged three suspects, all of whom are not known to the homeowner.

Sacha Kandalaft, 40, Harold Fairchild, 55, and Diane Farnsworth, 45, all face firearms trafficking charges.

Investigators ask anyone with information about the remaining firearms to contact the Edmonton Police Service at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at p3tips.com/250.