An Estevan man has been charged for drug and firearm offences following a drug bust in the city earlier this 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. 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 all the equipment used for the grow operation. 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 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.
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.
