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KINDERSLEY — Twenty kilograms of illegal drugs were located and seized after a man was arrested during a vehicle stop by Saskatchewan RCMP last week.
On Oct. 23, a police officer with the Saskatchewan RCMP Roving Traffic Unit (RTU) stopped a grey vehicle for a driver’s licence, registration and sobriety check while patrolling Highway 7, west of Kindersley.
As a result of the investigation, the police officer informed the driver he was detained on scene for the purpose of a drug investigation. A second RTU officer attended the scene and assisted with the investigation.
The first RTU police officer deployed PSD Salt, his police service dog trained to detect narcotics, to perform a free-air sniff around the outside of the vehicle. While inspecting the grey vehicle, PSD Salt sat next to the passenger side of the trunk, indicating she had detected the odour of narcotics in that section of the vehicle.
Based on PSD Salt’s indication, the Saskatchewan RCMP RTU police officers arrested the driver on scene. They then searched the vehicle and located four kilograms of suspected cocaine inside a corner of a hidden after-market compartment.
Kindersley RCMP officers attended the scene and helped transport the grey vehicle to the Kindersley RCMP detachment. There, RTU police officers, in consultation with a Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) exam specialist, were able to finish opening the after-market compartment.
Inside the compartment, RTU officers located and seized an additional 15 kilograms of suspected cocaine and one kilogram of suspected crystal methamphetamine. Two cellphones and $830 in Canadian currency found on the driver were also seized.
As a result of the police investigation, a 27-year-old man from Vancouver, B.C., is charged with:
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two counts of trafficking of a substance; and
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two counts of possession of a substance for the purpose of trafficking.
The accused is scheduled to appear in court in Kindersley on Dec. 16. He was released on a Justice of the Peace release order.
“It’s 20 kilograms of dangerous and addictive illegal drugs that will not make their way to the streets of Saskatchewan,” said Inspector Lee Knelsen, operations officer of Saskatchewan RCMP Traffic Services. “It’s also a significant amount of money that will not be supporting the activities of criminals in Saskatchewan. I commend our traffic officers for their vigilance while patrolling our roads and working closely with our local RCMP detachments to help keep Saskatchewan safe.”
