There are many improper times to take a selfie—funerals, in the middle of sex, when I’m talking to you—but few are worse/dumber than when you're driving a car full of drugs.Around 1 AM on Tuesday morning, police near downtown Winnipeg noticed a man who seemed to be taking a selfie—and the wild bastard was driving as he was doing it. The cops decided to pull over this selfie taker and when they approached the car they noticed a baggie filled with what seemed to be meth just kinda sitting there.They arrested the dude and when they searched his vehicle they found a hell of a lot more than just meth.Helping coppers catch dumbass alleged drug dealers is just the latest unexpected consequence that has come along with selfies. A study from earlier this year found that from October 2011 to November 2017 more than 250 people died taking selfies. In terms of the police investigations, selfies are actually being used more and more as evidence. One well-known example is from earlier this year when a selfie became a key piece of evidence in a murder trial with prosecutors saying a selfie showed a woman wearing a belt that would eventually be used to choke someone to death.As for our selfie driver, police allege that Randy Billy Bastien (which is a drug smuggler/70s country singer name if I’ve ever heard of one) had quite a bit of drugs on him. (Sort of like a 70s country singer). This includes 16.5 ounces of meth (estimated street value of $16,000), 23.3 ounces of cocaine (estimated street value of $46,000), threes grams of heroin (estimated street value of $1,500), and 229 Xanax pills (estimated street value of $900). They also say he had $2,285, two mobile phones, and a digital scale on him.Bastien has been charged with four counts of possession of a scheduled substance for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5,000.Police say he remains in their custody—sadly, I don’t think the po-po allows you to take your own mug shot.Sign up for the VICE Canada Newsletter to get the best of VICE Canada delivered to your inbox.Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter.
Advertisement
