BC News: RCMP bust operation sending ‘large quantities’ of drugs to Yukon, Manitoba

Four people have been arrested in connection with a drug trafficking operation that allegedly shipped “large quantities” of controlled substances from B.C. to other parts of Canada, the RCMP announced Wednesday.

Members of the Burnaby RCMP’s Drug and Organized Crime Section executed search warrants at two homes in the Lower Mainland in August, seizing a shipment of pills and other substances, plus more than $80,000 in cash, the detachment said in a news release .

Officers found 1.15kg of suspected cocaine, 25g of suspected ketamine, 12,547 suspected alprazolam pills and 9,555 suspected hydromorphone pills at the two homes, located in Coquitlam and Surrey, the RCMP said.

The majority of the hydromorphones are believed to be diverted prescription pills, Burnaby RCMP said in a news release, while others appear to be counterfeits containing fentanyl.

“Stopping the flow of highly addictive prescription opioids, as well as other drugs that contribute to overdose deaths, is a priority for our team,” said Sgt. Randy Mortensen, in the release. “This seizure has returned a large quantity of deadly drugs that are no longer intended for our streets.”

Hydromorphone is offered to people battling substance abuse through BC’s Safer Harm Reduction Program, but it is also one of the most commonly prescribed opioids for pain relief in the province.

CTV News asked Burnaby RCMP for more information about the suspected source of the hydromorphone and why authorities believe it was diverted.

In an email, Kalanj said investigators “rely on their expertise, but samples of all seized drugs have been sent for testing, so we cannot definitively confirm their origin at this time.”

Two of the suspects arrested in the crackdown also face drug trafficking charges in the Northwest Territories, and one of those individuals was charged in a 2021 human trafficking case in the Lower Mainland that is still moving through the courts, according to the authorities.

None of the names of the individuals have been released.

Burnaby RCMP said their investigation is ongoing, but they expect to recommend charges against all four suspects once it is completed.