FOUR people have been arrested and large amounts of drugs and cash have been seized in an interprovincial drug trafficking investigation, Burnaby RCMP announced on Wednesday.
After a four-month long investigation, on August 7, Burnaby RCMP’s Drug and Organized Crime Section executed search warrants on two residential properties in Coquitlam and Surrey.
The group was alleged to be shipping large amounts of controlled substances locally and as far as Manitoba and the Yukon.
The following was seized from the two properties:
- 9,555 suspected Hydromorphone pills;
- 1.15 kilograms of suspected Cocaine;
- 25.51 grams of suspected ketamine;
- 12,547 suspected Alprazolam pills;
- Over $80,000 Canadian currency.
Most of the Hydromorphone pills are believed to be diverted prescription pills while several hundred are believed to be counterfeit and contain fentanyl.
“Stopping the flow of highly addictive diverted prescription opioids, as well as other drugs that are contributing to overdose deaths, is a priority for our team,” said Sgt. Randy Mortensen with the Burnaby RCMP’s Drug and Organized Crime Section. “This seizure has redirected a large amount of deadly drugs which are no longer destined for our streets.”
One of the individuals was arrested and charged for drug trafficking by the Burnaby Drug and Organized Crime Section in 2021. That case is still in the court process.
This same individual, along with one of the others arrested in this investigation are also currently charged with drug trafficking offences in the Northwest Territories, police said.
Charges will be forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada once this ongoing investigation is complete.
