Trail police are recommending criminal charges against a local man and woman after a vehicle stop led to the seizure of several weapons, suspected street drugs, and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
On Monday, May 23, a frontline Trail RCMP officer was on a routine patrol when she detained a 48-year-old Trail woman and a 40-year-old Trail man on Rossland Avenue. The occupants were in a Jeep Cherokee, a vehicle which had allegedly been the subject of a recent previous investigation.
While detained, a second officer arriving at the scene spotted what was suspected to be drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle.
The officers conducted further investigation into the occupants and their vehicle.
Once officers searched inside the vehicle, they discovered a can of bear spray.
The officers arrested the two occupants for “possession of a weapon for danger purpose.”
“If you review the criminal code, a can of bear spray is illegal to possess in any other situation than its intended purpose, safety from wildlife attacks while in the wilderness,” explains Sgt. Mike Wicentowich, Trail RCMP detachment commander. “It is carried by a few people who intended to use it as a weapon to incapacitate a human target,” he clarifies. “In these cases, the police can seize it and lay a criminal charge.”
A search subsequent to arrest had officers allegedly locating a prohibited handgun, an imitation handgun, a switchblade, a substance suspected to be illicit drugs, and drug trafficking paraphernalia.
Trail RCMP will be recommending several criminal charges to Crown counsel.