The Hideout Smoke Shop it was not.
Police knew exactly where it was and what was going on when they raided the former business in the Dogwood Plaza at 2nd Avenue on Feb. 10, 2011.
The store was filled with paraphernalia to use and package illicit drugs – which is illegal – and Mounties got an unexpected bonus when one of the owners arrived.
When Stephen Bishop showed up he was promptly arrested for importing/exporting drug instruments or literature. Another 43-year-old man was also arrested, but was never charged.
As for Bishop, when police searched him they found a collapsable baton, almost 14 grams of marijuana, 11 tabs of ecstasy and two small packages of cocaine containing half a gram each.
The coke was also packaged in “green alien” wrappers which were found for sale inside the store.
As a result, he was also charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.
Bishop was released on bail conditions, but got into more trouble in the early morning hours this past New Year’s Day.
It was shortly after 1 a.m., and Bishop was driving by the RCMP detachment on Dogwood Street when a police cruiser just pulled out of the parking lot and spotted the tattered insurance tag on the rear licence plate.
When Bishop made an illegal lane change, the officer took the opportunity to stop the car.
The officer noted that Bishop appeared very nervous and could also smell a strong odour of “green marijuana” wafting from the vehicle.
Bishop was arrested on suspicion of drug possession.
An initial search turned up two joints and four bags of cocaine containing half a gram each.
Later, a police dog was given the chance to sniff out the vehicle and hit upon the car stereo. Behind the stereo was more drugs: 5.9 grams of cocaine and three packages of crack cocaine weighing in at 2.5 grams.
On Monday, in Campbell River provincial court, the 33-year-old entered guilty pleas, relating to the first set of charges, to two counts of simple possession and importing drug instruments.
On the second set of charges, he pleaded guilty to possession and trafficking.
In a joint submission presented to the judge on behalf of the Crown and the defence, Bishop accepted a 10-month jail sentence. All the items seized from Bishop and the store were forfeited. He must also provide a DNA sample to the national police registry and is prohibited from possessing firearms for the next 10 years.
Bishop had no previous criminal record.