Tip from off-duty officer leads to fentanyl discovery by Nelson police – Nelson News

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A night of searching for a possible impaired driver ended with a drug trafficking charge and the seizure of a significant amount of fentanyl.

On Wednesday, November 6, an off-duty Nelson police officer observed multiple individuals smoking suspected illegal substances in a parked vehicle.

Concerned about the potential risk of drunk driving, the officer immediately reported the incident to the NPD station. Although on-duty officers were immediately dispatched to the area, the vehicle had left the location prior to their arrival.

Shortly thereafter, officers located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop a few blocks from the initial report, NPD Community Safety Officer Silk Edwards noted.

“During the stop, the driver was removed from the vehicle and a significant amount of fentanyl was found in her possession,” she said in the police report. “The driver was arrested for drink driving and taken to hospital for a blood test.”

A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed items consistent with drug trafficking.

The vehicle has been temporarily seized and the driver has been released from Kootenay Lake Hospital under specific circumstances.

Members of the Nelson Police Department responded to 103 calls for service in Nelson during the reporting period of November 3 to 9.