A man from Vancouver and another from Vancouver Island have been arrested and over a kilogram of cocaine seized following a multi-jurisdictional Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC (CFSEU-BC) investigation.
CFSEU-BC Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said in a press release that in early 2014, CFSEU-BC’s Vancouver Island office began an investigation into the alleged drug dealing activities of a former member of the Dhak-Duhre crime group who was residing in Vancouver and his Vancouver Island-based lieutenant. Both were suspected of controlling and actively running multiple drug lines in the Greater Victoria and Nanaimo areas.
The investigation reached a point where on June 20, CFSEU-BC partnered with the Victoria Police Department’s Crime Reduction Unit to take strategic enforcement action against the primary target’s right-hand man. A search warrant was obtained for a suspected drug stash house located inside an apartment in the 800 block Craigflower Road, Esquimalt. A search of this residence yielded about 737 grams of cocaine. The lieutenant and his sister were arrested at the apartment and later released pending the laying of criminal charges.
The investigation concluded on July 30 when CFSEU-BC members observed the primary target meeting with his lieutenant in Vancouver. The Vancouver Island based suspect was seen leaving his boss’s residence at the 2500 block of Franklin Street in Vancouver in a taxi cab and going to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal where he boarded the ferry to Nanaimo.
Investigators were waiting in Nanaimo and the lieutenant was arrested there for possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was searched and was found to have concealed about 424 grams of powdered and crack cocaine and 59 grams of buff in the crotch of his pants.
CFSEU-BC investigators quickly determined that while they were dealing with the man in Nanaimo, their primary target was en route to Vancouver Island on the ferry to Swartz Bay. He was arrested in his vehicle with the help of the Sidney RCMP after getting off the ferry and a small quantity of Oxycontin seized.
While both men were in custody, investigators obtained a search warrant for the primary target’s residence on Franklin Street in Vancouver. While a search of the residence did not yield any more drugs, numerous items to support trafficking charges were seized. These included a money counter, paraphernalia used for cooking crack cocaine, and empty kilogram wrappers.
The total amount of drugs seized during the investigation was:
– 1.161 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $69,500
– 59 grams of buff worth an estimated $100
– 4 tabs of Oxycontin worth an estimated $120
Both men were released from custody after the search pending drug-related charges being laid by Crown Counsel.
This multi-jurisdictional investigation impacted several communities on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
