A man charged with drug trafficking after police raided a St. Vital home says officers were wasting their time.
Police raided Ryan Lombaert's home in the 900 block of St. Mary's Road early Thursday morning.
"As soon as I opened the door they had guys with machine guns and immediately they told me to get to the ground," says Lombaert.
Officers had a search warrant and were looking for two sawed-off shotguns, a long rifle and drugs. A small quantity of marijuana was seized, said police. Officers did uncover ammunition at the home, but no guns.
Lombaert and his brother Tyler were charged with possession of a controlled substance and trafficking in a controlled drug.
"I had weed…but I wasn't trafficking," said Lombaert.
He said that he had less than two grams of marijuana on hand, along with a scale.
When asked about the scale, Lombaert said he had it, "because nobody every likes getting ripped off."
Lombaert questions the police raid.
"(It's) wrong information -- waste of the city's money. There are guys getting murdered downtown and (police) have time to sit here and watch my house," he said.
Officers, meanwhile, said just getting any drugs off the street is viewed as a success, regardless of the quantity.
"There are often times when we've made significant seizures and other times when it is not exactly what we had intended on," said Const. Natalie Aitken, a spokesperson with Winnipeg police. "Those search warrants aren't just entered into lightly."
Lombaert said he doesn't have any prior convictions, aside from traffic tickets, and plans to fight the drug trafficking charge.
Both he and his brother were released on a promise to appear in court.
- with a report from CTV's Stacey Ashley
