Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 25/02) - Security guards at the Yellowknife Airport triggered a silent alarm to alert police after discovering a pair of brass knuckles in a carry-on bag Saturday.

An RCMP officer arrests a man at the Yellowknife airport after he tried to board a Canadian North flight to Edmonton Saturday afternoon. - Nathan VanderKlippe/NNSL photo

A 24-year-old Yellowknife man was later charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, breaking a weapons prohibition, and possessing a controlled substance.

The man was released from custody by order of a Justice of the Peace the same day. He is expected to appear in court Nov. 5.

Airport security officials were screening passengers for the Canadian North Edmonton-bound flight, when one of them discovered the knuckles.

The knuckles were removed from the bag and the passenger allowed to board the airplane.

RCMP arrived on scene 15 minutes after the alarm was sounded, said Brian Carter, chairman of Twilite Security, which has the security contract at the airport.

When RCMP arrived on scene, they removed both the man and his travelling companion from the Boeing-737 aircraft.

"Our guard identified to the police who he was, where he was supposed to be sitting on the aircraft and the police took it from there," said Carter.

After a search that found nothing, the companion was let go and allowed to re-board the aircraft, which eventually took off shortly after 6 p.m. Its scheduled departure was 5 p.m. Carter said about 70-75 passengers were on board.

Police also found and seized a small amount of an undisclosed substance.

The RCMP are being extremely tight-lipped about a case.

Reached for comment, Sgt. Al McCambridge would not give any details about either the weapon or the prohibited substances that were seized.

Asked what the substance was, he said, "that we won't know for sure until it's analyzed. That's why we put down a controlled substance."