A traffic stop of a suspected prohibited driver resulted in a major weapons and drug bust in Nanaimo last month, Nanaimo RCMP say.
It started when an officer with the detachment’s special investigations team saw a man who was known to be prohibited from driving parking and getting out of a truck on June 13, police said.
The man was initially arrested for breaching conditions of a bail order, but in a “pat-down search,” the officer found a bottle of pills believed to be illicit prescription drugs, said RCMP.
The officer could also see bottles of drugs in the front and back seats of the vehicle, police said.
A search yielded a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a replica firearm, thousands of dollars in cash, several ounces of fentanyl and hundreds of pills suspected to be illicit prescription opiates.
Roger Ian Der, 44, has been charged with 15 counts of weapons and drug-related offences.
The charges include possession of a firearm contrary to a probation order, careless storage of a firearm and five counts of trafficking illicit drugs.
