Seized drugs and vehicle key fob programmer

Kelowna

2025-01-09 09:21 PST

File # 2025-1488

On January 9, 2025 at approximately 9:30 a.m., officers with Kelowna RCMP’s Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) were patrolling in the area of Burnett Avenue when they spotted a parked and occupied vehicle with stolen license plates attached.

Officers approached the vehicle and arrested the sole occupant without incident, a 48-year-old Kelowna man who is known to police. It was determined that the vehicle, a grey 2022 Honda Civic, had also been stolen from the 1300-block of Richter Street on the morning of December 31, 2024.

Incidental to arrest, officers located a quantity of illicit drugs indicative of street level trafficking and initiated a possession for the purposes of trafficking investigation. While continuing the search, officers also located a vehicle key fob programming kit which has since been seized as evidence.

These kits are costly and used by auto dealers and mechanics to program key fobs for vehicles, says Sgt. Scott Powrie with the Crime Reduction Unit. In the wrong hands, it could be used to assist a would-be thief steal virtually any vehicle that uses a key fob and we are very happy to have recovered it. The kit has been seized as stolen property and we are seeking public assistance in determining where it came from.

The suspect has been released from custody while the investigation remains ongoing and officers complete a thorough report to crown counsel. Anyone with information regarding ownership of the programmer kit is requested to call the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 and reference police file number 2025-1488.

Photo of seized drugs and key fob programmer