Guilty in large drug bust

One man was convicted of five counts of drug trafficking while another was acquitted Friday, two and a half years after police busted a drug trafficking operation in East Kelowna.

Police searched a home rented by Shelden Harris on Crawford Road in October 2014, after spending nine days surveilling the house.

Police had received a tip that Christoper Schiller was dealing drugs in Kelowna, and by way of a tracking device on Schiller's car, they were led to Harris's home.

On the night of Oct. 9, police staked out the home and saw Harris and a man identified as Tyson Still in the kitchen, appearing to pack powder into baggies.

The following morning, police arrested Harris at a gas station and searched the home.

In the trunk of an Audi A8 parked in the garage, police found 1,110 grams of cocaine, 210 grams of heroin, 806 grams of methamphetamine and 464 grams of Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine, a scheduled drug sometimes sold as an alternative to MDMA. A container of hash was also found in the fridge.

Police also found baggies of a powder that tested as an “unknown substance.”

Two scales covered in powder, an industrial pill press, a vacuum sealer, a money counter and $6,975 in cash were also seized.

Justice Victoria Gray convicted Harris of five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Still avoided conviction, as Gray said the baggies he was handling could have contained the unknown substance, and not a known drug. The judge said Still's involvement was suspicious, however.

Outside court, Still said he met Harris through mutual friends and just needed a place to stay. 

“He was weighing out s**t, I didn't even know what it was,” Still said. “He was like 'you'll be fine.'”