Nanaimo RCMP have seized "a significant amount" of drugs, firearms and stolen property from a home on Prospect Drive north of Ladysmith and a home on Harewood Road in Nanaimo after conducting search warrants at both residences last week.
The Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team (ERT) was used to enter both homes, and the EDIV Clandestine lab team was also utilized. As well, the RCMP EDIV Bomb Disposal Unit was also called in after the discovery of a pipe bomb at the Prospect Drive home, according to an update provided by the Nanaimo RCMP on Dec. 11.
"The drug warrants executed are the culmination of a detachment-wide effort to address a group of offenders causing significant harm in our community," Superintendent Mark Fisher, Officer in Charge of the Nanaimo RCMP, said in the press release. "It takes a significant amount of investigative effort from both our front-line uniform officers and plainclothes investigative units to get us to the stage where warrants can be obtained to enter these properties, and [we can] disrupt their illegal activities. We are very pleased with the results from our investigation. For me personally, most satisfying was seeing the support we received from neighbours in the area whose lives have been disrupted by the activity associated with these illegal activities."
The investigation, led by the Nanaimo RCMP Projects Team, resulted in the seizure of guns, drugs and stolen property from the Prospect Drive home, and police officers found a pipe bomb inside the residence, which posed a "significant risk" to the officers involved in the search, according to the news release.
"The RCMP EDIV Bomb Disposal Unit was called to the scene and safely detonated the homemade bomb in a secure and safe manner," Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Gary O'Brien stated in the release.
Police seized two loaded handguns with ammunition, one silencer and two cross bows from the home. Drugs found inside the home included 400 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 650 grams of MDMA, a small amount of crack cocaine and 250 grams of powder cocaine. Police also found a stolen Bobcat, motorcycle, snow blower, three generators and chain saws.
At the Harewood Road home, police seized seven grams of heroin, 100 grams of cocaine, 245 grams of crystal methamphetamine and a small amount of methamphetamine and oxytocin pills. Additionally, 405 millilitres of steroids, Ativan and ecstasy were located. Along with the drugs, scales, baggies, cellphones and money counters were seized.
"The RCMP Clandestine lab members were active at both locations, dismantling and removing four industrial-size barrels of GHB and other chemicals used in the production of GHB," O'Brien stated in the release. "These chemicals will be stored at the RCMP Clan lab facility in the Lower Mainland and will be later analyzed."
Currently, charges are pending against two men, aged 36 and 39. The 36-year-old male was released on a Promise to Appear on drug charges, with a court date of March 31 , 2015. The 39-year-old male has not been located to date, according to the news release.
Five other adults were detained during the searches but are not facing any charges.
Nanaimo RCMP say the names of the accused will be released when formal charge approval has been completed.