The northern end of Squamish's downtown was swarmed by police in SWAT flack jackets and helicopters Thursday (Oct. 8) for the takedown of a suspected drug house.
At about 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon, an RCMP helicopter and several marked and unmarked police vehicles descended on Victoria Street at Sixth Avenue with a warrant to search a house after receiving a tip it contained drugs and weapons, according to RCMP Staff Sgt. Guy Pollock.
"It was information that we developed, but I wouldn't want to disclose the details of how that came about," he said. "In view of the potential risk to the police and the public in the area, we took a proactive approach to make sure it was done safely for everyone.
"We did it in conjunction with the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team and West Vancouver Police and an RCMP helicopter as well."
The first wave of the police approach involving helicopters and police in SWAT uniforms took less than 20 minutes, but it generated significant attention from the neighbourhood. Within minutes dozens of residents were milling around the blockaded street to get a view of the action.
A resident was leaving just as police approached the home. He was arrested and detained in a police vehicle while police searched the property.
What was revealed confirmed suspicious activity.
"The search resulted in locating some fire arms including sawed off long arms and a taser, some stolen property the usual stuff laptops and a small quantity of drugs," said Pollock, adding he couldn't specify the types of drugs seized.
The search went "very smoothly," he said.
Names of suspects have not been released since Crown Counsel's charges have yet to be laid, he said on Friday (Oct. 9). Follow up calls to the RCMP were not returned by deadline.
