Five men faces charges after two separate traffic stops on Friday.

The first incident took place at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Friday
after officers assigned to the East Quick Response Unit (EQRU) observed
a drug transaction in the 200 block of Windmill Road. Two men left in a
vehicle which was stopped on Wyse Road. Both men in the vehicle were
arrested without incident and a subsequent search resulted in a quantity
of crack cocaine being seized.

Eighteen-year-old Devon Demarko Smith of North Preston was scheduled to
appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today to face charges of drug
trafficking. A 53-year-old North Preston man is also facing charges of
drug trafficking and is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.

The second incident took place at 11:26 p.m. when officers assigned to
the Central Quick Response Unit (CQRU) noticed a suspicious vehicle in
the city’s north end. A traffic stop was conducted at Novalea Drive
and Livingstone Place and three men were arrested. A subsequent search
resulted in a quantity of marijuana and drug paraphernalia being
seized.

A 28-year-old Dartmouth man, a 21-year-old Halifax man and a
20-year-old Truro man all face drug trafficking charges and are
scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial Court at a later date.

The Quick Response Unit is an important part of the Halifax Regional
Police crime reduction strategy, with a separate unit for each of our
three divisions.  The members in these Units usually work in a plain
clothes capacity and address crime and quality-of-life issues.