Police probe possible firearms trafficking following July seizure of 47 guns

Police in northern Nova Scotia are probing whether more than 40 rifles and shotguns discovered during a large drug bust this summer at two rural homes are part of a weapons trafficking scheme and hope cellphones seized during the raids will offer more clues.

RCMP Cpl. Troy Gill, an investigator with the Cumberland County street crime unit, said police weren't expecting to find such a large cache of guns when officers on July 31 searched the homes in the small communities of Hansford and Birchwood just east of the town of Oxford, N.S.

"I've been doing this job for 20 years and this is by far the largest seizure of firearms that I've ever come across in my career," Gill said in an interview Thursday.

Two people who were arrested the day of the searches, a 39-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, each face more than 200 charges. Most relate to the 47 guns seized, and include unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and careless storage.

The weapons were found in a barn, according to Gill. During the searches, police said, they also discovered a kilogram of crystal meth, 1,500 methamphetamine tablets known as "ice tabs," 150 oxycodone pills, and according to court records nearly $16,000 in cash.

Guns traded for drugs

Gill said the amount of crystal meth seized was "definitely an eye-opener," and he suspects the guns were traded by people in exchange for drugs, or were stolen.

One of the guns had been reported stolen, he said, but police are still trying to trace the origins of the rest and have looked through break-in files to see if firearms were taken, and are combing through cellphones seized during the searches.

"Our hope is if we can tie this to firearm trafficking, then that of course would take this to another level," he said. "But we haven't reached that part of the investigation yet as we're waiting on our digital forensic analysis team to analyze those phones to get that evidence."

Police first noticed methamphetamine ice tabs, known as "poor man's cocaine," in the area around 2012, Gill said. Since then the problem has grown significantly, he said, and it's "shocking" the amount of methamphetamine police have seized in the county.

Drugs are being moved in from New Brunswick, he said, particularly from the nearby city of Moncton and from Port Elgin, a community not far from the Nova Scotia border.

The street crime unit behind the investigation includes both RCMP and Amherst Police Department officers.