Prince George police have safely destroyed a bomb found on a property near the city.
Edward Thomas Harris, 28, faces a list of criminal charges for the explosive devise.
Suspected firearms infractions were the reason the RCMP approached the property with a search warrant in the first place on Thursday afternoon, said Prince George RCMP media liaison officer Cpl. Craig Douglass.
"Upon execution of the warrant, police officers located a sophisticated improvised explosive device on the property," said Douglass. "The officers immediately evacuated the area and established a safe perimeter."
It was what Douglass called an isolated rural property on Alpine Drive, which is east of town between Tabor Lake and Buckhorn Lake.
Douglass did not speculate on whether Harris was at the property, but he was wanted on a British Columbia-wide warrant stemming from the investigation and seizure of a stolen skid-steer type tractor valued at approximately $60,000 from earlier in 2011.
Mounties found it, and also found a .22 calibre handgun, a stun gun and a quantity of cocaine and marijuana on the same property.
The RCMP's provincial Explosive Disposal Unit was flown to the scene overnight and on Friday morning they placed the bomb in a safe location where it was detonated in a controlled fashion.
"To investigate and more importantly to dispose of such a devise takes a specialist team, and a lot of care," said Douglass. "We informed the neighbours near this property so they were aware of what we were doing, and the steps taken to ensure their safety. We maintained a perimeter around the site of the devise. When the specialist team arrived, they did what was necessary to dispose of the devise in a safe manner for police members and for the public."
The search warrant was executed by members of the RCMP's crime reduction team - a group of specialists who typically focus on prolific offenders in the fields of auto theft, break and enter and other property offenses that are often tied to the drug trade.
It is now before the courts to determine if Harris had any connection to the explosives, and the other items of police interest.
Harris has been remanded in custody until his first court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.
Charges recommended against Harris include:
- Possession of an explosive substance without lawful excuse
- Possession of an explosive substance while prohibited
- Possession of a firearm without license
- Possession of a firearm while prohibited
- Possession of ammunition while prohibited
- Possession of a "stun gun" conducted energy weapon while prohibited
- Possession of a controlled substance
