Nanaimo’s RCMP property crime unit recovered an automatic handgun, drugs and stolen items when they searched a home and car in the 800 block of Short Avenue Tuesday.
Police were about to enter the home in the 800 block of Short Avenue at about 7 p.m., but just before they moved in a woman came outside.
Members arrested the woman and started their search, which turned up a stolen mountain bike, laptop computers and credit cards. They also seized a woman’s purse, drug paraphernalia and nunchucks, which are a prohibited weapon.
Police called in the Emergency Response Team to search an associated vehicle. The vehicle was stopped at Waddington Road and St. George Street, where they took two men and a woman, all in their 20s, into custody.
Searching the vehicle turned up a small quantity of crystal methamphetamine, but when police could not determine who the drugs belonged to, they released all three suspects without charges.
Officers searched the vehicle further and found an unloaded, small calibre, automatic handgun.
The gun is being examined by forensics specialists to see if it was used in other crimes.
The woman arrested at the house was released on a promise to appear in Nanaimo provincial court Aug. 16 to face charges of possession of stolen property and possession of stolen credit cards.
Anyone with any information about the incidents is asked to call Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.nanaimocrimestoppers.com.
