Alberta RCMP arrest 14 suspects targeting oil, gas, electric sites
Posted December 18, 2025 5:43 pm.
Last Updated December 18, 2025 7:12 pm.
Police said they arrested 14 suspects in blitz targeting some of the province’s top property crime offenders.
At a press conference Thursday, Alberta RCMP said they arrested repeat “prolific” offenders, in an operation between Nov. 24 and Dec. 5. using helicopters, canine crews and spike belts along highways and at home.
The suspects are charged with over 40 charges — including thefts of tools and copper from electricity plants and oil and gas site worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages at job sites that the Mounties say are classified as critical infrastructure.
“The dollar amount they steal pales in comparison to the damage they cause to the site, the downtime, lack of productivity,” Staff Sergeant Luke Halvorson, Alberta RCMP said.
“Oftentimes, these sites can cause safety issues for the workers, nearby residents there’s fire risk in the summer,” he added.
During the press conference, the police showed helicopter video footage of a chase involving two of the suspects who tried to escape using stolen vehicles in Parkland County, west of Edmonton.
Six stolen vehicles were recovered, the police said.
Halvorson, who is also the non-commissioned officer in charge of community safety, said the repeat offenders posed a safety risk to the community and said the arrests highlighted the need for bail reforms.
“Certainly, we’re open to anyone who wants to look at the way bail is handled for recidivous property crime offenders as we know that they can cause a lot of harm in the community, and it’s sometimes increasingly difficult to ensure they’re remanded in custody,” Halvorson said.
RCMP said they have roughly 85,000 unique offenders ranked by the harm they cause in their communities.
