A Whitehorse man arrested in connection with a recent cocaine, marijuana and firearms seizure by the RCMP has a lengthy history with the Yukon justice system.

Jesse Ritchie is in custody after being detained in Whitehorse, while four other men were arrested in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Ritchie, 34, is charged with five counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts of trafficking marijuana and one count of conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

He has faced charges of possession and possession for the purpose of trafficking dating back to 2004.

Ritchie was arrested in 2009 following an informant-assisted sting which resulted in federal time for another man due to his role in a cocaine-dealing operation traced back to Surrey, B.C.

Ritchie, the owner of the now-shuttered Flex Fuels on Main Street, has also faced 11 assault-related charges over the past seven years.

He was handed a sentence for his role in a fight that broke out at the Dust Ball slo-pitch tournament dance in 2006.

The judge ordered him to serve a 45-day conditional sentence and 10 1/2 months' probation for charges of assault causing bodily harm and breaching his conditions from the fighting at the dance, as well as for a separate incident of uttering threats.

At a news conference held early Thursday afternoon, Whitehorse RCMP displayed a "sampling” of the drugs and guns seized in connection with an ongoing investigation into a B.C.-based drug trafficking network that bleeds into the Yukon.

RCMP Cpl. Calista MacLeod noted the importance of preventing traffickers "from bringing drugs into our community, not just catching it after it gets here.”

Roughly 5 1/2 kilograms of cocaine and 28 1/2 kilograms of marijuana were seized from locations across B.C. and the Yukon.

At $100 a gram at the street level, the cocaine's value adds up to more than half a million dollars — $550,000.

It amounts to roughly 33,000 lines, with each gram yielding six to seven lines, MacLeod said.

"This assumes that this product here is street-ready,” she said.

"If it were mixed with other filler substances, it could produce even more than that.”

A gram of dried bud goes for about $10 retail, meaning about $280,000 in marijuana was taken by police.

Assuming a gram translates into about two joints, the amount seized "would be enough to roll at least 57,000 joints,” MacLeod added.

It is hard to estimate the amount of illegal drugs flowing into the territory, MacLeod said.

"We do know that we are only able to intercept a relatively small amount of the drugs that are coming into our entire area,” she said.

"And there are far more people using drugs and bringing them in than there are those trying to stop it.

"The importers and dealers can be very creative and determined to sell drugs, and they're assisted in many ways by the people they sell to,” she said.

MacLeod highlighted the role of demand in nurturing the supply line.

Police efforts to disrupt the drug trade should be mirrored by a territory-wide push to combat use and abuse, she said.

"We need all Yukoners to help us bring down the demand for drugs.”

She added that the investigation, which targets a supply pipeline for marijuana and cocaine running from B.C. to the territory, is continuing across the two jurisdictions.

"Things are still happening ... but really it's very, very early.”

With the case before the courts, RCMP will not specify precisely when or where the drugs were seized, MacLeod said.

The investigation resulted in the arrests of Asif Aslam, 37, and Matthew Truesdale, 35, in British Columbia.

They have been charged with two counts each of cocaine trafficking and one count each of conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Charges of possession of the proceeds of crime are pending against two other men, who have been released until a court appearance set for Feb. 26, 2014.