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Linteau declined to say what discipline was imposed on the officer, citing privacy concerns, and would not identify the Mountie. But she said the officer is still an active member of the RCMP.

“With respect to how often a gun is stolen, we don’t have any stats, but we checked around with a number of senior officers who indicated it is very rare.”

The court case heard that in November 2014, the Surrey RCMP drug unit began an investigation into several suspects, including a man named Mark David McGrath.

Police surveillance suggested that McGrath lived at a residence on 144th Street in Surrey and had been to an apartment on Whalley Boulevard.

On Dec. 18, 2014, McGrath was seen leaving the apartment and getting into a taxi with a brown paper bag.

McGrath was dropped off at the home on 144th Street, but did not have the bag in his hands. Police later recovered the bag and found inside it 300 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 60 grams of heroin in “pebble” form, which is an altered form of powdered heroin.

Search warrants were then obtained for the home and the apartment, resulting in police locating more drugs and various weapons, including the RCMP firearm. The gun was found inside a purse in a bedroom in the home.

“On the handgun, the RCMP emblem was partially defaced but still recognizable,” noted B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Watchuk in her ruling.

“Therefore, the Crown submits, anyone possessing this handgun would have knowledge that it was an RCMP-issue handgun. The Crown says it does not need to prove Mr. McGrath stole the handgun, as any person possessing an RCMP handgun would know it is unlawful to possess one.”