What started as a routine traffic stop in Duncan turned into a major incident after police found a suspected explosive device in the vehicle.
Late on the evening of Aug. 28, officers with B.C鈥檚 anti-gang unit, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU), pulled over a vehicle with a lone driver for a driving offence.
While searching the vehicle, officers located a suspicious device that resembled an improvised explosive device, said Cont. Pam Bolton of North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP.
The suspected explosive was removed from the vehicle near the Cowichan Commons on Green Road. The device was placed in a stable location and several roads were blocked off as police waited for the Explosive Disposal Unit to arrive from the Lower Mainland.
In the early morning hours of Aug. 29, the explosives experts attended and destroyed the device without damage. No one was injured.
Members of the CFSEU were in Duncan that weekend to monitor the pig roast being hosted by the Veterans Motorcycle Club, which police say is an outlaw motorcycle club, said the unit鈥檚 spokesperson Sgt. Brenda Winpenny.
Uniformed anti-gang officers have the power to conduct vehicle stops if they see an infraction, Winpenny said, and the driver was not affiliated with a gang. He told officers he was not the registered owner of the vehicle, she said.
Bolton thanked the public for their co-operation as police worked to resolve the situation safely. Police have not yet said if anyone has been arrested or whether charges are being recommended.