An Estevan man has been charged for drug and firearm offences following a drug bust in the city last week.
The Estevan Police Service’s (EPS) Drug/Intelligence Unit conducted an investigation on a male and female allegedly involved in the illicit cultivation of cannabis.
On Friday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m., members from the unit, along with officers from the patrol section, executed a search warrant at a residence located in northeast Estevan.
The male and female were not inside the residence, but were arrested shortly thereafter. One was arrested at the residence, and the other was arrested elsewhere.
The EPS says the search warrant was executed under the newly reformed Cannabis Act.
Officers discovered a cannabis grow operation within the residence. Over 100 cannabis plants were seized along with equipment used for the grow operation.
Ladouceur said they’re still calculating the quantity of drugs that were seized, because there were so many plants.
“Obviously we’re still in the early stages of that, just quantifying the exact amounts,” said Ladouceur. “The other thing that’s hard to establish is because they’re plants, looking at what the street value would be is a little more difficult. It takes a little more time obviously for us to determine that based on the fact that they’re not broken down into sellable product yet.”
The operation included a climate controlled environment, along with high intensity lighting, a carbon dioxide regulator and an air filtration and ventilation system.
Other equipment to produce cannabis derivatives, such as shatter, was also seized. Officers also discovered a loaded restricted firearm within the residence.
It was also determined nobody within the residence was authorized to possess a firearm, and the firearm was stored in an unsafe manner.
Jesse Wyatt Moen, a 32-year-old Estevan man, was charged with possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling, unlawfully cultivating cannabis from a seed or plant material he knew was illicit, and unlawfully cultivating more than four cannabis plants in a dwelling or house at one time, all under the Cannabis Act.
He has also been charged with unlawfully possessing a restricted firearm, possessing a restricted firearm with readily available ammunition, and unlawfully storing a firearm in a careless manner under the Criminal Code.
The female was released without charges.
“When we find drugs in a residence, we have to establish who the drugs actually belong to. So generally if they’re in a residence, and there’s more than two or three people who reside in that residence, we want to make sure that they didn’t have knowledge, or they didn’t have involvement in that act itself.”
Ladouceur pointed out that this was the first cannabis grow op bust by police since cannabis possession became legal last October.
“We see a lot on Facebook about people’s comments that it’s legal now and so forth, and they’re absolutely correct. Cannabis is legal now, if you’re purchasing it from an authorized distributor, or to grow. Either you have the proper licensing to grow, or the law says four plants, not 40 or 400.”
One of the primary objectives of the government with legalization was to counteract illegal drug activity and sales, he said.
“Growing marijuana potentially for sale, or more than the allotted amount under law, is still an offence,” said Ladouceur.
Moen appeared in front of the justice of the peace April 13.
He was released from custody on several conditions and is scheduled to appear in Estevan Provincial Court on June 17.
