On January 8 at approximately 3 p.m., an officer of the Sooke RCMP entered the Reading Room Coffee shop on his coffee break. While in the coffee shop he saw a male patron who seemed out of place and spoke with him. The officer conducted a check on the male and determined there was an outstanding warrant for arrest out for him. The officer advised the male of this - the male resisted briefly, but was taken into custody. A search of the suspect's backpack yielded 50 grams of methamphetamine and 14 grams of heroin, paraphernalia for drug trafficking, as well as a stolen Apple laptop from the West Shore area.
The suspect male, a 23-year-old resident of Sooke, has now been charged with two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, and Possession of Property Obtained by Crime. He remains in custody.
“This is a significant quantity of dangerous controlled drugs destined for distribution in Sooke. It should be noted that the male arrested has no connection whatsoever to the Reading Room Coffee Shop in Sooke. Unfortunately, people on social media have circulated misinformation, which is concerning to the business owners. The suspect had simply gone into the business to get a coffee - after shopping at other shops in the mall, and was happened upon by an officer on patrol”, said S/Sgt. Jeff McArthur, Detachment Commander of Sooke RCMP.
"To the average person he likely wouldn't have appeared suspicious - but to an experienced police officer - much different - he was wearing clothing typical of persons associating with gangs, and showed signs of being under the influence of a controlled drug."