3 arrested after police find improvised bomb, loaded shotgun in Nanaimo vehicle

Nanaimo RCMP say three people were arrested on Saturday after a slew of weapons was found inside their vehicle.
The arrests occurred near the intersection of Bowen Road and Meredith Road in the early hours of Jan. 22.
Mounties were on patrol when they spotted the vehicle, an older model Ford Focus, which did not have valid insurance.
Police approached the vehicle and found three people inside, as well as loaded firearms and an improvised explosive device.
Mounties say there was a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, an improvised 12-gauge "zip-gun" that was also loaded, a prohibited stun-gun flashlight – and other items, such as a stolen insurance decal, drugs, and several hundred dollars in cash in the vehicle.
Police say the explosive was brought to a nearby field, under recommendation by the RCMP explosives disposal unit (EDU), until the EDU could arrive and safely destroy it.
Two people from Nanaimo, a 23-year-old man and 28-year-old woman, were arrested at the scene as well as a 31-year-old man from Vernon, B.C.
The investigation is ongoing and police are still reviewing potential charges.
"This is an excellent example of General Duty Officers in Nanaimo conducting a thorough investigation of a suspicious vehicle that went from a straight forward charge under the Motor Vehicle Act charge for no insurance, to apprehending three persons and getting several extremely dangerous weapons off the streets," said Const. Gary O'Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP in a release Wednesday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
McDonald's to sell its Russian business, try to keep workers
More than three decades after it became the first American fast food restaurant to open in the Soviet Union, McDonald's said Monday that it has started the process of selling its business in Russia, another symbol of the country's increasing isolation over its war in Ukraine.

'Hero' guard, church deacon among Buffalo shooting victims
Aaron Salter was one of 10 killed in an attack whose victims represented a cross-section of life in the predominantly Black neighbourhood in Buffalo, New York. They included a church deacon, a man at the store buying a birthday cake for his grandson and an 86-year-old who had just visited her husband at a nursing home.
Ontario driver who killed woman and three daughters expected to be sentenced today
A driver who struck and killed a woman and her three young daughters in Brampton, Ont., nearly two years ago is set to be sentenced today.
Justice advocate David Milgaard remembered as champion for those who 'don't have a voice'
Justice advocate David Milgaard, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent more than two decades in prison, has died.
First patient in Quebec gets approval from Health Canada for magic mushroom therapy
In Montreal, a pioneering clinic in the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is about to become the first health-care facility in Quebec to legally treat depression with psilocybin.
Total lunar eclipse creates dazzling 'blood moon'
The moon glowed red on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday, after a total lunar eclipse that saw the sun, Earth and moon form a straight line in the night sky.
EU's Russia sanctions effort slows over oil dependency
The European Union's efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.
Shanghai says lockdown to ease as virus spread mostly ends
Most of Shanghai has stopped the spread of the coronavirus in the community and fewer than 1 million people remain under strict lockdown, authorities said Monday, as the city moves toward reopening and economic data showed the gloomy impact of China's 'zero-COVID' policy.
California churchgoers detained gunman in deadly attack
A man opened fire during a lunch reception at a Southern California church, killing one person and wounding five senior citizens before a pastor hit the gunman on the head with a chair and parishioners hog-tied him with electrical cords.