Three Vancouverites have been charged with drug trafficking offences after police seized four kilograms of fentanyl as well as other drugs and cash.
In a press release issued Wednesday, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) said police received information in May 2020 that prompted the start of a Metro Vancouver drug trafficking investigation.
That investigation led to search warrants being at four residences: one in Vancouver, another in Abbotsford and two in Burnaby. Officers seized fentanyl, heroin, fentanyl mixed with other drugs, carfentanyl, ketamine, methamphetamine and MDMA. About $24,000 was also seized.
On May 16, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada charged the three people, CFSEU-BC said.
Karina Marie Graham, 32, has been charged with three counts of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Leo Minh Trung Thach, 27, has been charged with four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
And, Trung Thanh Nguyen, 40, has been charged with one count of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking,
The three were arrested and released on court-imposed conditions awaiting the start of court proceedings.
“The collaborative work by CFSEU-BC and partner agencies is key when combatting criminal activity associated to organized crime. We remain committed to holding accountable drug traffickers who prey on the most vulnerable citizens in our communities by trafficking in potentially deadly fentanyl and other substances,” said CFSEU-BC spokesperson Sgt. Brenda Winpenny in a statement.
Fentanyl has been at the centre of the ongoing opioid crisis in B.C. for years now.
Some 11,171 B.C deaths have been attributed to drug toxicity since the public health emergency was declared in 2016. An estimated 82 per cent of those deaths involved fentanyl.
