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Guns seized from Coquitlam storage locker

Storage locker in the 1600-block of Lougheed Highway part of an investigation involving Victoria police and a combined special forces unit of Lower Mainland police; $30 million in drugs, including deadly fentanyl found
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Fentanyl, cash, cars seized in investigation involving Victoria police and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC. On Dec. 11, 2020, guns were found in a Coquitlam storage unit. Photo via Victoria Police Department

A cache of guns, silencers and body armour found inside a storage locker on Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam was part of a $30-million fentanyl bust involving the Victoria Police Department and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC (CFSEU-BC).

Wednesday, Dec. 16, Victoria Police Department announced the conclusion of a six months-long joint forces operation that uncovered a drug supply chain between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

While the Coquitlam discovery in a storage locker in the 1600-block of Lougheed Highway was only a small part of the investigation, it revealed that lethal weapons are an important component of the B.C. drug trade.

Here’s what happened according to Victoria police:

In early June, VicPD’s Strike Force team identified an organized crime group trafficking fentanyl in Victoria. Over the course of the months-long investigation, Strike Force determined that the group was also trafficking fentanyl on the Lower Mainland.

In addition, Strike Force discovered that the fentanyl supply chain for this trafficking group was based in the Lower Mainland, according to a police department press release.

With this information, Victoria police contacted the CFSEU-BC and a joint operation dubbed Project Juliet was launched, with Strike Force officers focused on the group trafficking fentanyl in Victoria, and CFSEU-BC targeting the individuals associated with the Lower Mainland fentanyl trafficking operation and supply chain.

On Nov. 17, Strike Force and CFSEU-BC officers conducted coordinated enforcement actions in Victoria and the Lower Mainland, targeting the suspects in this investigation.

In Victoria, police executed four search warrants on three separate residential locations and one vehicle, resulting in arrests of two individuals.

In the Lower Mainland, police executed five search warrants on three separate residential locations in Burnaby, Vancouver and Surrey and two vehicles, resulting in one arrest.

The police effort in Victoria netted more than two kilograms of high-concentration fentanyl; more than two kilograms of methamphetamine; and evidence of drug re-purposing and packaging for a trafficking operation, including more than six kilograms of cutting agents.

VicPD Strike Force officers also seized a replica assault rifle and $50,000 in cash.

In the Lower Mainland, meanwhile, police found a kilogram of MDMA (commonly referred to as ecstasy); two kilograms of methamphetamine; more than 10 kilograms of high-concentration fentanyl; and evidence of drug re-purposing and packaging for a trafficking operation, including more than a hundred kilograms of cutting agents. 

Officers also seized a kilogram of sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra). In addition, police seized $335,390 in cash and three luxury vehicles.

On Dec. 11 another search warrant was obtained to search a storage unit in the 1600-block of Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam, which resulted in the seizure of two additional sets of body armour as well as eight firearms accompanied by three suppressors, and multiple magazines and various types of ammunition.

In total, officers seized 20 firearms in this investigation, ranging from pistols and shotguns to assault style rifles. Several of these rifles were modified to be fully automatic, and many of the firearms had serial numbers removed.

The estimated total street value of the seized cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and high-concentration fentanyl is about $30 million that, when cut down, could supply an estimated 3,965,000 lethal doses, according to police.

“This investigation and others highlight the undeniable links between drugs, gangs and violence, all of which threaten the public safety of British Columbians,” stated Michael LeSage, RCMP assistant commissioner and chief officer of CFSEU-BC’s in a press release.

He further noted that the coordinated work between police agencies in British Columbia has been ongoing despite the pandemic while the seizures made in this investigation, by both the CFSEU-BC and Victoria Police, have taken millions of potentially deadly doses of drugs off our streets and dozens of firearms. 

While the investigation remains ongoing, the joint force is recommending charges of drug trafficking and firearms charges against a man from Calgary, a man from Surrey and a man from Vancouver.