For two young women in Riverdale, 2015 ended on an exceptionally bad note – having their apartment raided by the RCMP and being arrested for drug trafficking.

Breanne Silverfox was awakened at 8 a.m. on New Year’s Eve to the sounds of her dogs barking.

When she got out of bed to go see what the commotion was, she heard an abrupt knock at the door.

A voice shouted, “Police! Open Up!”

“I got scared, so I started running to the back of the house,” Silverfox said in an interview Monday.

Police entered the dwelling and threw a flash grenade in Silverfox’s direction, she said.

“They told me to get down on the ground,” she said, adding that she was not wearing a shirt and was trying to cover herself up with a blanket.

“They said, ‘You know what’s going on. You know why this is happening. You’re being arrested for trafficking drugs.’”

Silverfox, 19, and her sister, Calista, 23 were both arrested at the apartment.

Their boyfriends, who were also there sleeping, were also arrested.

Three units in the Lewes Boulevard apartment building, Skyline Apartments, were raided that morning.

The Yukon government’s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) program initiated an investigation on the three units after receiving complaints from concerned citizens, a government press release stated this morning.

“During their investigation, SCAN investigators found evidence that apartments were habitually being used to traffic controlled drugs,” said RCMP Insp. Archie Thompson.

More specifically, frequent and short visits to the apartments were occurring at all hours of the day, and both money and drugs were being openly exchanged, the government press release stated.

The RCMP were alerted to SCAN’s investigation on Dec. 18.

The Federal Investigations Unit launched its own probe to corroborate information received by SCAN.

The police investigation led to three search warrants being executed, resulting in the arrests of 10 individuals, the RCMP reported.

Marijuana, cocaine and drug paraphernalia were also seized that morning.

Criminal Code charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act have been laid against four individuals.

Three of the charges are for possession of marijuana, and one for possession of cocaine.

The other six who were arrested, including the Silverfox sisters and their boyfriends, were released and not charged.

“It doesn’t mean that police can’t charge them if they had been released,” Cpl. Natasha Dunmall said this morning.

“Police can arrest and un-arrest people, as longs as there are grounds for the arrest.”

And there were grounds to make the initial arrest, Dunmall said, adding that there had also been sufficient information presented to obtain the search warrant in the first place.

“There was evidence at that time... to believe there were drugs trafficked,” Dunmall said.

“For us to get a warrant, there’s a high threshold we have to meet.”

Both Breanne and Calista Silverfox insist the police would not have found any form of drugs or paraphernalia in their apartment.

“We’re not bad people or drug dealers,” Calista said.

The young women and their boyfriends were released from the RCMP arrest protection unit at about 6:30 p.m. that day.

They said they arrived home to find the search warrant stuck to their fridge. They had been served with eviction papers from SCAN – the tenants were to leave the premises within five days.

“I have to take care of my family,” Calista said.

“I’m going to try and fight this eviction. This is our first (apartment), and we’re evicted after the first month, and now our name is bad.”

Prior to living in this apartment, Calista said, she and her four sisters had lived downstairs in the same building, in their father’s apartment.

Calista noted that her father’s apartment was part of the RCMP raid as well.

The Silverfox siblings’ eviction is due to the work of SCAN.

“(SCAN) can work to shut down the house ... and displace the individuals,” Dunmall said.

The RCMP, on the other hand, deals with the individuals specifically.

“If we can do a joint investigation that gets the individuals and the residence out of the equation, then that’s beneficial to everybody,” she said.

Both Calista and Breanne insist that they shouldn’t have been arrested in the first place.

“If they were monitoring (our apartment), they would have seen us partying. That shouldn’t be a reason to be arrested,” Calista said.

Furthermore, the sisters allege that they were treated improperly by police officers.

Breanne was topless when the RCMP invaded the residence and was told not to move from her position on the floor.

Calista was wearing a T-shirt and a skirt that was raised up high enough to expose her when one police officer yanked her out of bed, she said.

“This guy rips me out of bed and my body is being exposed to all the men in this room,” she said.

Breanne’s boyfriend was arrested wearing only boxers, while Calista’s boyfriend, the only Caucasian in the apartment, was permitted to get dressed, she said.

“I (was) totally exposed. I’ve never felt so violated and disrespected in my whole life,” she said.

“And by police officers. They’re supposed to be protecting us.”

Dunmall explained that in these types of situations, safety and security of evidence are the RCMP’s main concerns.

When police knock on a door and there is no response, Dunmall said, officers are not aware of what’s on the other side of the door.

“Whether people are dressed or not wasn’t the concern of the police at that time,” she said.

Individuals in the apartment during the raid must be secured in one spot and not allowed to wander around the apartment, she explained.

“We don’t know if they’re going to go get a weapon .... When the residence has been deemed safe, then the individual needs of the people are met.”

The Silverfox sisters say the incident adds to the list of family members who have been mistreated by the RCMP.

Their uncle, Raymond Silverfox, died after having spent 13 hours in RCMP custody in 2008.

The head of Yukon’s RCMP later apologized for the “insensitive and callous treatment” of the 43-year-old Silverfox while in RCMP custody.

More recently, the Silverfox’s say, another relative was involved in police mistreatment.

Their cousin, Josh Skookum, was caught on video being punched by an RCMP officer in April 2015.

“That video went viral. And now this happens to us.” Calista said.

“I don’t respect the police at all, actually.”

The Yukon RCMP cannot comment as to whether the Silverfox’s are still under investigation.

The SCAN investigation revealed bylaw, building fire and safety code violations in the units at Skyline Apartments.

Whitehorse Bylaw Services and the Whitehorse Fire Department will inspect the apartment building and provide direction for the owner to address the issues.

In 2015, SCAN investigated 60 complaints of illegal activity and took action in 11 cases, said SCAN director Jeff Ford.