Four people have been arrested following a four-month-long investigation in Burnaby into an interprovincial drug trafficking investigation.
Burnaby RCMP said that in August, its drug and organized crime section executed search warrants on two homes in Coquitlam and Surrey.
Investigators seized 9,555 suspected hydromorphone pills; 1.15 kilograms of suspected cocaine; 25.51 grams of suspected ketamine; 12,547 suspected alprazolam pills and more than $80,000 in Canadian currency.
The group was alleged to be shipping large amounts of controlled substances as far as Manitoba and the Yukon, as well as locally, RCMP said.
Most of the hydromorphone pills are believed to be diverted prescription pills, while several hundred are believed to be counterfeit and contain fentanyl.
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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,
Sgt Randy Mortensen with the Burnaby RCMP’s drug and organized crime section said in a statement. This seizure has redirected a large amount of deadly drugs which are no longer destined for our streets.
No charges have been laid in the case but police said one of the people arrested was previously arrested and charged with drug trafficking by the Burnaby drug and organized crime section in 2021.
However, that case is still going through the courts.
That same person, along with one of the other people arrested in this investigation, is also currently charged with drug trafficking offences in the Northwest Territories.
Charges will be forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada once this ongoing investigation is complete, police confirmed.
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