When the police conduct a search, they typically already have a goal in mind. For example, they may have reason to suspect that you have drugs on your person, perhaps because they received a warrant to search a residence for drugs and you were at the residence when the search was conducted.
However, during the search, they could charge you for anything illegal that they discover. It does not have to be only the thing they were looking for.
For instance, if they did get a warrant to search your apartment because they thought you were selling drugs, they may not even find any drugs. However, if they find illegal weapons in the apartment or on your person, you could then face weapons charges.
This does not mean the police can carry out illegal searches, of course, just to scramble and see what they come up with. They need probable cause to get a warrant and do the search in the first place, or they need a reason to do an on-the-spot search, such as patting you down during an arrest. They're not free to pull anyone aside to see if they have anything illegal on them without any prior indication that such a thing may be the case.
Therefore, if you've been arrested and you think the police only found evidence of a crime because they randomly set out to find it, without probable cause, your rights may have been violated. When this happens, it's often possible to get that evidence thrown out of court, which may put an end to the whole case if that's the only evidence that they had. This is why it's so important to know your rights and the police department's legal obligations.
Source: SVAN, "A Citizen’s Guide to Rights When Dealing With Police (in Canada)," Stephen van Egmond, accessed Aug. 25, 2016
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