News release
Police Dogs help BC Highway Patrol look for drugs, impaired driving and contraband tobacco
April 2, 2025
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Okanagan, British Columbia
From: BC Highway Patrol
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A BC Highway Patrol road safety operation in the Okanagan has intercepted 18 impaired drivers and issued 35 tickets to commercial drivers in a bid to get drivers to be safer on the roads.
“Many people don’t realize that BC Highway Patrol is trained to do more than look for unsafe driving behaviour,” said Inspector Lori Orstad, the Officer in Charge of Special Traffic Operations at BC Highway Patrol. “We have officers trained in security awareness and crime-detection techniques for identifying traveling criminals and we also use drug-detection dogs.”
This most recent operation went from March 16 to March 20, 2025, and involved the BC Highway Patrol Integrated Impaired Driving Unit and the Traffic Safety Unit – Police Dog Service and officers from local Okanagan detachments.
The enforcement operation included the following:
- Impaired driving prohibitions: 18;
- Files involving drug seizures and seizures of contraband tobacco: 27;
- Tickets issued to commercial vehicles and their drivers: 35;
- Commercial vehicles removed from service: 2.
While this operation focused on West Kelowna, Osoyoos and Penticton, BC Highway Patrol launches surprise road safety efforts all over the province at all times of the year.
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Contacts
Cpl. Michael McLaughlin
Media Relations Officer
BC Highway Patrol
bchp_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca