Photo: Seized items / supplied by RCMP
A replica submachine gun, a loaded prohibited pistol, and several other weapons were seized during a police search at a residence in Nipawin as part of an ongoing RCMP Crime Reduction Team (CRT) investigation.
On November 10, 2025, officers arrested 44 year-old John Fortin of Nipawin in connection with the investigation.
During Fortin’s arrest, police seized a quantity of cocaine.
Later that day, authorities executed a search warrant at a home in Nipawin and inside, officers seized: a loaded prohibited pistol, a carbine rifle with no serial number and loaded prohibited magazines, a rifle, a replica submachine gun, a conducted energy weapon (taser) drug-trafficking materials, including a scale, packaging, and 300 grams of an unknown white powder, which has been submitted to Health Canada for analysis.
Fortin is now charged with: possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, two counts of possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized, and three counts of unsafe storage of a firearm.
Fortin is scheduled to appear in Nipawin Provincial Court on December 17, 2025.
The investigation remains ongoing.
“This investigation determined drugs were being trafficked in the Nipawin, Tisdale, Melfort, Carrot River and surrounding area. It’s the result of inter-provincial collaboration and excellent work by our criminal analysts and investigators that we continue to identify sources of criminal activity and take enforcement action to help keep our communities safe,” says Corporal Tyler Kerr of the RCMP’s Crime Reduction Team.