INNISFAIL — A Calgary male was charged under the Cannabis Act after local Mounties found hundreds of plants in his car during a traffic stop.
The Innisfail RCMP department reported in a press release dated Monday, Feb. 28 that a member of the detachment’s Integrated Traffic Unit pulled over a male motorist who according to police was speeding on Thursday, Feb. 3.
“The officer, based on numerous indicators, entered into a drug trafficking investigation and the driver was arrested,” reads a portion of the police’s statement.
As the officer proceeded to conduct a search of the vehicle, 440 cannabis plants worth approximately $440,000 were discovered along with other drugs and paraphernalia, police said.
The 56-year-old Calgary man, who was not named in the press release, was subsequently charged under the Cannabis Act as well as the Traffic Safety Act for distribution of budding or flowering plants or more than four cannabis plants, as well as exceeding the maximum speed limit on a highway.
He was scheduled to appear on March 7 at Didsbury provincial court.
The Integrated Traffic Unit reminds the public that even if cannabis and cannabis products are legal in Canada, there are nevertheless provincial, territorial, and federal regulations that must be followed when buying, transporting, or consuming cannabis.
The unit is comprised of RCMP members and Alberta Sheriffs. Among the unit's mandates is to intercept contraband being transported on Alberta’s highways.
