Seven People Were Arrested, Five Were Let Go Without Process, and the Only Thing Police Put a Number On Was the Date They Detonated It: Trail and Castlegar RCMP Charge Brian Mackay, 43, With Possessing Explosives While Prohibited (September 18, 2026)

ROBSON, B.C. — Two rural properties in the West Kootenay were searched on September 15. What came out of one of them was serious enough that the Castlegar RCMP put a guard on the house and waited for a specialist unit to come and destroy it. The RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit disposed of the material on the evening of September 16, an operation police acknowledge area residents may have heard. Three days later the force named two accused, Brian Mackay, 43, of Robson and Tyson Simons, 18, of Waneta, and published not one weight, not one dollar figure and not one description of any of the firearms.

Two Properties, Fifty Kilometres of Valley Apart

Trail and Castlegar RCMP, assisted by the RCMP Southeast District Emergency Response Team, searched a residence in the 8600 block of Waneta Highway near Trail and a residence in the 1000 block of Mountain Street in Robson, near Castlegar. Both searches were carried out on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, in what the force describes as a joint drug trafficking investigation.

At Robson, investigators reported seizing suspected cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine, Canadian currency, firearms in the plural, ammunition and explosive materials. Mackay was arrested there without incident.

At Waneta, investigators reported suspected cocaine, methamphetamine and ketamine, a single firearm, ammunition, Canadian currency, a vehicle and other items police described as consistent with drug trafficking. Six people were arrested at that property. Five were released without process. The one who was not is Simons, who is eighteen.

The Fourth Count Is the One That Matters

Three of Mackay’s four counts describe what was in the house. The fourth describes what he was already barred from having. Possession of a firearm, prohibited weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive while prohibited only exists as an allegation if a court had previously made an order against him. The RCMP does not say when that order was made, by which court, on what file, or how long it had left to run.

Nor does the force distinguish, in that omnibus count, which of the listed things he is alleged to have had while prohibited. The section names six categories. The inventory at Robson contains firearms, ammunition and explosive materials, which would answer to at least three of them. Police charge the section and leave the particulars to the court.

Everything Is Described in Words, Nothing in Numbers

Read the inventory back and notice what is missing. “Suspected cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine” — no weights, not even approximate ones, and no street value. “Canadian currency” at both properties — no amount at either. “Firearms, ammunition” — no make, no model, no calibre, no count, and no statement of how many of the firearms at Robson were the prohibited or restricted one the charge refers to. “Explosive materials” — no quantity, no type, and no description beyond the assessment that they were a risk to public safety. “A vehicle” — no make or model.

Against that, the force is precise about the one number the public could hear for itself: the disposal happened on the evening of September 16, and residents in the Castlegar area may have noticed. That is the only quantified fact in the file.

Ketamine at One Address and Fentanyl at the Other

The two inventories are not the same. Cocaine and methamphetamine appear at both properties. Fentanyl appears only at Robson. Ketamine appears only at Waneta. Police do not say whether the two addresses were supplying one another, drawing on a common supply or operating separately, and the release does not describe a network, a line or an organization of any kind.

The joint statement issued on September 18 by Castlegar detachment commander Staff Sergeant Monty Taylor and Trail detachment commander Staff Sergeant Dave Johnson frames the file as two detachments working together to remove illicit drugs from their communities, and offers reassurance that the explosives disposal was carried out with public safety as the priority. It does not characterise the operation as organized crime and does not name any group.

What Is Still Not Reported

No RCMP file number. No street value for any drug and no weight for any drug. No cash figure at either address. No description, classification or count for any firearm. No quantity or type for the explosive materials. No account of why five of the six people arrested at Waneta were released without process, and no statement of whether any of them remain under investigation. No next court date for either accused. No indication of how long the investigation ran before September 15. And no gang, criminal organization or outlaw motorcycle club is named anywhere in the file — a notable silence in a province where the RCMP routinely names one when it believes it applies.

The RCMP says the investigation remains ongoing and that the matter will be forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for further charge assessment, which leaves open the possibility of counts beyond the six published. These allegations have not been tested in court, and both accused are presumed innocent.