Three men are facing a series of charges in relation to a garage explosion that took place in early September in a residential neighbourhood in Airdrie.
Emergency crews were called at about 2:15 p.m. on September 6 to a home on 1 Avenue N.E. for reports of an explosion.
When they arrived, they found the incident had taken place inside a large garage and caused significant damage to the structure.
Two men were found inside and were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Following the incident, Airdrie RCMP executed a search warrant on the garage and home and discovered 45 pounds of marijuana, over 300 new and empty cans of butane along with equipment used to extract hash oil from the marijuana.
Police say the marijuana had an estimated street value of approximately $300,000.
Butane hash oil, known as BHO, is a thick waxy oil that can be smoked or vaporized for the user to get high.
Officials say that BHO can be further refined by heat and negative pressure to create a substance known as “shatter”.
The two men who were injured in the incident were arrested after the police investigation and charged while a third man turned himself in to police.
Nicholas Desourdy, 22, of Calgary, Taylor Edwards, 24, of Airdrie, and Jordan Filipovic, 24, of Airdrie have been charged with the following:
- possession for the purpose of trafficking
- production of cannabis
- possession of cannabis resin over 1 gram
Officials would also like to remind the public that while the legislation regarding cannabis is changing on October 17, marijuana oil extraction labs will still be illegal.
Not only are they prohibited by law, but they are extremely dangerous and pose a serious safety risk.
“For highly flammable compounds like butane, there is serious risk,” said Corporal Gina Slaney with the Airdrie RCMP. “One of the males was seriously burned and it was lucky that none of the adjacent houses were affected.”
Slaney also said that the incident is extremely troubling to discover, especially because it occurred across the street from a public school.
The suspects are expected to appear in Airdrie Provincial Court on October 25.
