James Ledoux secures a metal fence yesterday around an Edmonton house that has been shut down for 90 days by the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Unit for suspected drug traffic and prostitution. (Sun Media/Jordan Verlage)

EDMONTON -- The story of one family's alleged descent into a dire life of drugs turned a page when they were booted from their house by Alberta sheriffs.

"It's not a joyful day for me. I thought it would be," said a neighbour living near the shuttered 10231 163 St. home.

The neighbour did not want to be named.

"It's just been a really sad thing," she said, "other than not having to fear (for ourselves) anymore."

COMMUNITY SAFETY ORDER

Sheriffs with the Northern Alberta Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Unit seized the home after a judge awarded a community safety order for the eviction, which took effect yesterday.

Under the order, the home has been surrounded with a locked steel fence, its residents banned for 90 days.

One woman was living at the home, said Alberta Solicitor General spokeswoman Eilish Lemieux.

Const. Trevor Shelrud, a beat cop working the Stony Plain Road area, said the home was known for housing illegal activities.

DRUG TRAFFIC

"There was a lot of drug traffic," he said. "I've personally stopped people who said they were going there to buy drugs."

A couple bought the home in about 1993, said a nearby neighbour, and had three children before breaking up.

The husband left, leaving some personal items with the neighbour, the neighbour said.

It was after the separation that the woman seemed to delve into drugs, the neighbour said.

Then traffic increased. The neighbours' cars were smashed and spray-painted.

Cats overran the backyard, which at times was populated with tents, said the neighbour.

Her husband was propositioned by prostitutes outside the home, she said.

Another neighbour started taking photos of the johns and sending them to police.

Some of those incidents led to confrontations between inhabitants of the drug house and neighbours -- some ending in threats.

"You're hyper vigilant all the time," said the neighbour.

RICHARD.LIEBRECHT@SUNMEDIA.CA