Prince George RCMP's street crew unit appears to have put a major dent in the city's supply of illicit drugs.
Two men "well known to police for their ties to the illicit drug trade" were temporarily taken into custody and enough suspected fentanyl to produce 8,700 doses of the opioid were seized, police said Tuesday.
The seizures were made when search warrants were recently executed on a 2000-block Pine Street home and a 1700-block 17th Avenue apartment building and were the result of an investigation conducted over the last month.
Roughly 800 grams of the drug were seized, along with a large number of Dilaudid pills, smaller amounts of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine as well as a firearm, RCMP said. The fentanyl carried a street value of $391,000.
"This is a very significant seizure of drugs, which likely accounted for a large portion of Prince George’s illicit drug supply. Police believe this was used to target those frequenting the downtown area," Cst. Jennifer Cooper said.
Names of the two men were not provided and charges remain pending further investigation that includes testing to confirm whether the substances seized were indeed what police suspect.
Cooper said that process typically takes a year to 18 months. As a result, she said the two were released without conditions but will be subject to formal arrest once charges have been approved by federal Crown counsel.
Whether they will return to dealing in the interim remains to be seen, but Cooper said police will keep a close eye on the two.
The seizure is one of the largest in recent memory.
In December 2020, a drug operation hidden in an underground bunker in Salmon Valley was among the takedowns Prince George RCMP scored in a series of raids.
In February, Kody Dwayne Mosser, Ericka Ostroski, Daryl Michael Tugnum and Robyn Ann Bradley were charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and Mavra Ashley Lode was charge with possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling as a result of that investigation.
