CALGARY -- Strathmore RCMP is asking for the public's help to identify a pair of suspects caught on camera breaking into an area cannabis store last week.
Police were alerted to a break-in at The Garden — a cannabis retail store in Strathmore — about 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 30.
Two men entered the store and made off with a number of bongs and vapes, along with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Both appeared to be between 20 and 25-years-old.
One was wearing a green Canada Goose bomber-style jacket with a fur hood and black pants with white lettering on the side. He also had black hair with a distinctive cut.
The other was wearing a dark-coloured coat and blue jeans and had tan coloured shoes on. He also had a mask covering his face.
Strict regulations around surveillance at cannabis retail stores meant police were able to obtain high-quality images of the suspects, said security expert Barry Davidson, who runs Davidson Global Advisory Group and has consulted on more than 140 retail operations across the country.
"I think offenders have gleaned on to the new shiny thing because they believe a cannabis store must have thousands of dollars and must have hundreds of thousands of dollars of product," he said.
"I would suggest it's one of those areas where the Canadian regulators have done it well. When we look in Alberta and we look in Ontario at the robberies we've had, the evidence collection and the opportunity for those systems that were mandated to support us in the investigation of a robbery afterward, have been excellent.
"The steps taken by the stores that take their staff safety seriously, and their operations safety seriously, have also demonstrated several times that they are effective and allow everyone to go home safely at the end of the day."
Anyone with information is asked to call Strathmore RCMP at 403-934-3535 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
