ESTEVAN - An Estevan man has been charged after the Saskatchewan RCMP’s Moose Jaw Crime Reduction Team (CRT) executed two search warrants at residences in Estevan as part of an ongoing investigation.
The RCMP says they located and seized seven restricted handguns, three semi-automatic firearms and three long-barrelled firearms. One handgun and two of the long-barrelled firearms were loaded. The RCMP said officers described them as being unsafely scattered throughout the residences.
An adult male was arrested at one of the residences. Alexander Li, 26, from Estevan is charged with 12 counts of unsafe storage of a firearm, eight counts of possessing a restricted weapon in a place other than where entitled, and eight counts of unlicensed possession of a restricted firearm with readily-available ammunition.
All charges are under the Criminal Code.
Li made his first appearance in Estevan Provincial Court on Feb. 1. His matters were adjourned to Feb. 6 for a show-cause hearing. He was released with conditions following his Feb. 6 appearance, and is slated to be back in court on March 6.
The Estevan Police Service, the Saskatchewan RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team and the Estevan RCMP assisted with this continuing investigation.
“The seamless partnership between Moose Jaw CRT, other Saskatchewan RCMP units and the Estevan Police Service was pivotal to this investigation,” said Supt. Glenn Church, the officer in charge of Saskatchewan RCMP’s Saskatchewan Enforcement Response Team.
“Together, they’ve removed a significant risk from the community – these firearms were being stored in a careless way.
“Moose Jaw CRT is a new unit and one of its mandates is to disrupt the possession and trafficking of illegal firearms. They’ll continue to work to keep unsafe and illegal guns out of our communities.”
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