Cape Breton RCMP officers had to leave the scene of a raid on a cannabis store on foot on Thursday morning after people surrounded police vehicles and blocked access to the highway.
RCMP say officers were executing a search warrant at a storefront on Highway 4 in Potlotek First Nation, and a group gathered in protest and blocked access to the road.
A CBC reporter on the scene said eight police vehicles were left at the scene after officers departed on foot.
Traffic was backed up on Highway 4, one of two routes between Sydney and the Canso Causeway, as a result of the closure. Highway 105 between the Canso Causeway and Sydney remains open.
The manager of the Sikku Shop cannabis outlet said RCMP arrived early Thursday morning, before the shop opened, broke down the door and loaded a trailer with cannabis products, shelves and drink coolers, and took off.
Employees said police were going to take a large wooden table as well, but it wouldn’t fit in the trailer.
Community members say they plan to maintain the blockade until police return the products taken from the store.
Late in the morning, RCMP officers carried rifles and duffel bags away from the blockade and walked to waiting unmarked police vehicles.
Then, as community members whooped and hollered, the officers took off quickly in the unmarked SUVs.
An RCMP spokesperson said in a statement that people “have a protected right to lawfully, peacefully and safely assemble,” and that crimes against people or property will not be tolerated.
The statement noted that the RCMP’s liaison team is engaged and “communications are ongoing with community leaders.”
Meanwhile, members of Sipekne’katik First Nation have blocked one southbound lane of Highway 102 — the main highway linking Halifax and northern Nova Scotia.
The protest, which began around noon Thursday, was announced on Facebook by Chief Michelle Glasgow.
The post said “it’s not about ‘weed shops’ being raided. It’s about the government asserting jurisdiction over our communities and over our unceded Mik’maq lands.”
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