It was August 2014 when the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit announced details of the arrest of United Nations gang associate Robert Cletus Traverse on a large rural property north of Dawson Creek. He had tried to escape the police, barefoot and on an ATV. But he was eventually captured with a bag that police said contained a loaded handgun, cash and drugs.
Traverse pleaded guilty to drug and stolen property charges and was handed a 21-month sentence minus time served.
But he’s back in jail tonight facing more than two dozen new charges after Alberta police arrested him on another rural property where they found firearms, drugs and stolen property.
B.C. gang associate arrested in Alberta after standoff
A United Nations gang associate from B.C. has been arrested in Alberta after police there found an arsenal of guns, drugs and stolen property inside a rural home.
Robert Cletus Traverse, 35, was picked up with five others after police executed a search warrant May 1 at a house near Fairfax, Alta.
Traverse “remained armed and barricaded inside the home for three hours” after the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team arrived, ALERT spokesman Mike Tucker said.
Traverse eventually surrendered to an RCMP emergency response team.
Insp. Chad Coles said ALERT’s Grande Prairie unit consulted with B.C.’s anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit about Traverse’s suspected cross-border criminal activities.
“Traverse is an individual who is well known to police and has warrants in various jurisdictions across the country,” Coles said.
Traverse is wanted in B.C., Alberta and Newfoundland.
“Traverse was allegedly involved in criminal activity between the Alberta-B.C. Peace Region corridors, and he now faces 25 charges related to drugs, guns, and stolen property,” Tucker said.
During the search of the rural property police found nine firearms, an improvised explosive device, $50,000 worth of stolen property, and small amounts of crack cocaine and fentanyl.
“But it is believed that most of the drugs were destroyed during the execution of the search warrant,” Tucker said.
Traverse was already bound by a lifetime firearms prohibition at the time of his latest arrest.
“Three of the guns seized had their serial numbers defaced, including a restricted AR15 semi-automatic carbine,” Tucker said. 
New charges laid against Traverse include possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of an explosive substance and several firearms charges.
The other five arrested are Stephanie Catherine Payou, 28, David Lee Williams, 32, Charles Victor Morris, 26, Dean Allen Stafford, 34, and Tyler Allan Metz, 34. They face dozens of charges related to firearms, drugs and stolen property.
On August 2014, Traverse was arrested on a rural Dawson Creek property after another dramatic takedown by B.C.’s anti-gang police.
When CFSEU officers arrived, Traverse burst out of a stolen travel trailer barefoot and took off on an all-terrain vehicle.
With the help of an RCMP helicopter, police dogs were finally able to corner him four hours later.
He was found allegedly carrying “a bag that held a loaded Smith & Wesson .22-calibre handgun, approximately $35,000 in cash, five ounces of crack and powder cocaine, about half and ounce of methamphetamine, and several opiate pills,” CFSEU S. Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said at the time.
