-from canada.com-

Police say several thousand dollars worth of cocaine is off the street after a drug bust and two arrests at a local hotel.

RCMP Cpl. Scott Wilson said an ongoing investigation led to a search warrant being executed at the Rendezvous Hotel last week.

Officers with the drug and gang section and the Kamloops Action Response Team arrested a 43-year-old female employee for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, he said.

A 26-year-old male customer was also arrested for obstructing a police officer during an investigation.

Both were released on a promise to appear in Kamloops Provincial Court in June.

The Rendezvous has been the focus of police activity in the past. In March 2007, an emergency response team nabbed two alleged gang members outside the hotel in a takedown.

Wilson said there is nothing to indicate last week’s arrests have anything to do with organized crime.

“There is drug activity that happens in nightclubs and bars, and sometimes it is linked to organized crime.

“But I haven’t been given any information that there is a gang connection [at the Rendezvous],” he said.

Cactus Jack’s Saloon owner Pete Backus wasn’t surprised to hear about the bust. He said the drug trade is a problem every bar owner must deal with.

He wants to a see a Bar Watch program set up in Kamloops to help owners keep narcotics out of their establishments.

The program — a joint agreement between the owner, the RCMP and the city — puts the onus on police to come in and remove anyone suspected of dealing drugs, said Backus.

“This way I don’t have to worry about a fight on my street or retaliation,” he said.

Rendezvous owner Chris Rae called the bust police harassment, saying she had to close the bar for the night because RCMP scared away her customers.

She refused to answer questions about her employee or any drug activity at the establishment.