RCMP Sgt. Shawn MacNeil, of the Clandestine Laboratories Enforcement and Response team (CLEAR), describes the pills that were seized as they sit on display with firearms, during a news conference at RCMP headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. RCMP say they've disrupted major organized crime groups that are flooding the streets with toxic drugs in two separate investigations involving "transnational" drug production and distribution operations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
March 16, 2023 - 3:52 PM
VANCOUVER - RCMP in British Columbia say they've disrupted major organized crime groups that are flooding the streets with toxic drugs in two separate investigations involving "transnational" drug production and distribution operations.
Police in Surrey, B.C., announced the seizure of a "massive cache" of precursor chemicals used to make the powerful opioid fentanyl and MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
Police say they executed several search warrants in late February across Metro Vancouver, leading to the arrests of a man and woman and the seizure of the chemicals in addition to luxury cars, electronics, watches and dried cannabis.
A second investigation involved an organized crime operation that made and distributed opioids and was dismantled on March 1 by multiple agencies using 11 search warrants across Metro Vancouver.
Police say four people were arrested in that investigation, including one who is believed to be involved in the region's "ongoing" violent gang war.
The names of those arrested in either case won't be released until charges are laid, but police say both operations resulted in the prevention of "millions" of potentially lethal doses of drugs from fuelling the overdose crisis.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2023.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2023