You never know what might turn up at an RCMP road check. In the early hours of Sunday morning, June 2, Kimberley RCMP turned up a kilogram of marijuana, found in a vehicle that tried to avoid the traffic stop.
Three officers were working the road check on Hwy 95A just north of Marysville, says Cpl. Chris Newel of the Kimberley Detachment, when they observed a vehicle turning around before it could enter the check.
“Officers caught up to the vehicle and while dealing with the occupants noted an odor of marijuana,” Newel said. “The subjects were arrested and a search of the vehicle conducted.”
That search led to the kilogram of marijuana as well as cash and drug-related items. Two males from Edmonton, ages 23 and 24, were arrested and will face charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking. They were released on a $1000 bail for court in August.
Newel says it is not unusual to see a vehicle try to avoid the road check. In fact, there are generally one to two vehicles who attempt it each time a road check is set up.
“Officers will generally break off from the check and stop the vehicle,” he said. “It depends on traffic flow, police vehicle positions, what the officers are dealing with at the time, but we are constantly watching traffic flow for our own safety, so they are usually spotted very quickly.”