An American citizen living in Whistler is facing charges of trafficking a controlled substance after he accidentally sent a text to an RCMP cell phone asking if the person on the other end had a market for "oxy," the street name for the pain-relief drug OxyContin — a prescription drug that was pulled from shelves in Canada in February due to the number of people using it as a narcotic.
The first text came in on May 11, and police continued to text the 30-year-old and placed him under surveillance until they met the individual in Function Junction on May 14 at 2:45 p.m. Plainclothes officers arrested the man with roughly 100 pills on his person. He was later released on a promise to appear in court to answer trafficking charges.
Car stolen after impound
The RCMP is still trying to contact the owner of a vehicle, and a suspect in its theft from an impound yard in Function, after the truck was seized for excessive speeding.
According to the RCMP, at 2:20 a.m. on May 9, a vehicle was observed travelling southbound on Highway 99 at a high rate of speed between Alta Vista and Nordic. A quick radar check confirmed the truck was travelling 105km/h in a 60km/h zone, and the vehicle was pulled over.
Under new excessive speeding laws, vehicles are now impounded for seven days at the owner's expense if the driver is clocked doing 40km/h or more over the posted speed limit.
A 44-year-old Prince George male was fined by police and had his vehicle towed to the impound yard in Function. Then, between 5 a.m. and noon that day, the vehicle was taken from the yard.
The truck is a blue 2012 Ford F350 pickup truck, licence plate number DF0527.
Police have been trying to reach the man, who was en route to Vancouver Island, since the truck was reported missing. He is considered a suspect in the theft.
That was only one of the two vehicles taken for excessive speeding that day. At 1 p.m. that afternoon, a radar enforcement stop on Highway 99 and the McGuire Forest Service Road stopped a vehicle travelling 128km/h in an 80km/h zone. A 36-year-old female from Burnaby was charged and her vehicle impounded for seven days.
Surveillance footage blocks insurance fraud attempt
At 2:30 p.m. on May 9, the Whistler RCMP received a call regarding a stolen rental vehicle from an underground parkade in a hotel. The renter said the vehicle was taken, smashed into a pole in the underground, then returned to its parking stall.
However, RCMP reviewed security footage from the parkade and determined that the renter himself, a 74-year-old male from California, drove the vehicle into the pole.
Police considered charging the male for making a false police report, but let him off with a warning. They also contacted the rental company.
Theft of copper wire investigated, possibly solved
On May 10, the RCMP received a report from Pemberton regarding the theft of copper wire valued at $1,500 from a BC Hydro substation. It's unknown when the theft occurred, but the thief gained entry to the site by cutting a lock on a gate and then broke into the substation building.
Then, on May 12, the RCMP received a report regarding two males taking items from the Re-Use-It Centre, They had taken three boxes of snowboard boots that had been donated to the centre, and driven away. The police located the men and searched the vehicle where they found the three boxes of snowboard boots, as well as boxes and bags of copper wire and a bolt cutter.
The RCMP is now working to determine whether it is the same wire that was taken from BC Hydro.
A 46-year-old male from Kamloops and a 32-year-old from Squamish were arrested and will make their first court appearance on July 25.
RCMP add resources for May long weekend
The May long weekend has traditionally been a busy one for local RCMP with grad classes from the Lower Mainland coming to Whistler to celebrate and other revelers taking advantage of the cheaper hotel rates — however, the number of serious incidents is down as RCMP bring in extra resources and pursue a zero tolerance policy for alcohol offences.
Staff Sergeant Steve LeClair confirmed that the RCMP has an operational plan in place to deal with the crowds this weekend
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"We expect it to be busy, but we have a solid operational plan in place, and we're confident the public peace can be maintained," he said.
Expect more patrols in the village, parks and neighbourhoods. RCMP will also help hotels to eject noisy guests.
