WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police found scales of a different kind during a drug raid Thursday.

Officers executing a raid at a house in the 100-block of Polson Avenue found an unspecified amount of marijuana, morphine tablets and cash -- plus a boa constrictor.

"The circumstances surrounding the resident being in possession of the snake are not known at this time," said city police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput.

Police turned the snake -- which is more than three metres in length -- over to the city's animal services department, where it remained yesterday.

PROHIBITED

Chaput could not confirm where exactly the snake was found or whether it was in a pen of some kind.

Possession of boa constrictors is prohibited under the city's exotic animals bylaw.

A 51-year-old man was arrested and is facing drug-related charges, police said.

Winnipeg police did not disclose his name as he has not been charged at this point. The investigation continues.

One neighbour said she was aware the man had the snake but never saw it.

"Oh god, I hate snakes," said one longtime female resident. "What if it ever got out?"

Yesterday, a locked gate prevented entry to the front of a house, believed to be the one involved, while two large dogs were in the backyard. A handwritten sign in a rear window read "F--- OFF."

A man who claimed to be the owner of the snake called the Winnipeg Sun yesterday evening but refused to be interviewed. He did say he was not arrested, that he had a prescription for the morphine pills and that he was surprised to hear he is possibly facing criminal charges.