Drug busts in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island have raked in millions of dollars worth of illicit drugs, including fentanyl and cocaine, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a stick of dynamite, and more.
West Shore RCMP officers searched homes in Langford and Victoria in February. They found a brick of cocaine, more than 150 little bags of suspected fentanyl, about six ounces of MDMA, more than 35 bottles of codeine and promethazine syrup, and more than 1,000 unidentified pills.
They also seized more than $68,000 in cash, two replica handguns and a stick of dynamite with a detonating cord, according to a Wednesday news release.
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Three men and one woman were arrested for drug trafficking-related offences, with other drug-trafficking charges and charges related to the explosive forthcoming, Mounties said.
“The drugs, money and explosive device seized in this investigation has significantly impacted the drug trade in the West Shore,” said Cpl. Kevin Pollock in the release.
“Hundreds of lives would have been affected and possibly lost to the overdose crisis by the sale of these drugs. We are thankful to the other agencies who assisted in this investigation.”
Vancouver police, meanwhile, investigated a drug manufacturing and trafficking operation in Metro Vancouver. They searched a residential lab in Richmond last month, with help from Richmond RCMP and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
The home contained more than seven kilograms of suspected fentanyl, 800 grams of methamphetamines and $39,000 in cash, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release. A man arrested near the residence was also carrying 15 kilograms of suspected fentanyl, two kilograms of cocaine, and nearly $48,000 in a vehicle.
Suspected fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines seized in Coal Harbour and Richmond, B.C. drug busts in March 2023, are seen at the Vancouver Police Department’s Glen Drive office on Wed. April 12, 2023.
Laurie Hamelin/Global News
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A second raid in a Coal Harbour neighbourhood condo unit — likely connected to the Richmond lab — turned up another 4.7 kilograms of fentanyl and $272,000 in cash, police said.
“Every day in British Columbia, more people die and new people become addicted to illicit drugs that are manufactured and trafficked by organized crime groups that operate in plain sight,” said Vancouver police Insp. Phil Heard.
“While the results of this investigation are impressive, there is much more work that needs to be done to address B.C.’s overdose crisis and the criminals that profit from it.”
All three men arrested as part of the investigation have now been released, pending the investigation’s completion, police added. Multiple charges related to the production and possession of controlled substances are expected to be recommended to the Crown.