Date: Monday, March 15th, 2021

File: 21-6701

Victoria, BC – Two Saanich men were arrested following a joint operation between VicPD’s Strike Force, VicPD’s Analysis and Intelligence Section (AIS), and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT). The arrests are a response to community complaints that the two men were specifically targeting people struggling with addiction at local shelters for sales of cocaine and fentanyl.

On March 11, 2021, Strike Force and GVERT officers executed a search warrant at a residence in the 4000-block of Orion Place in Saanich, B.C. and on three vehicles. During the search, Strike Force officers located cash as well as amounts of fentanyl and cocaine consistent with drug trafficking. Two Saanich men were arrested and face recommended charges.

The arrests come after a month-long investigation which involved investigative techniques and surveillance which tracked the men as they allegedly sold drugs to some of the most marginalized members of our communities at multi-unit residential temporary housing facilities and shelters.

These arrests come in the midst of the ongoing opioid overdose epidemic in which drugs like fentanyl have killed thousands of British Columbians.

The two men face recommended charges related to drug trafficking.

About Strike Force

Strike Force is a focused investigative unit in the Victoria Police Department. Strike Force officers use cutting-edge investigative techniques including clandestine surveillance, undercover operations and confidential information to identify, target, and arrest some of the most dangerous and prolific offenders in Victoria and Esquimalt. If you have information about those trafficking deadly drugs like fentanyl to multi-unit residential temporary housing facilities in Victoria and Esquimalt, other drug trafficking or firearms in our community, you can call the Strike Force line directly at (250) 995-7260.

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