Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Drug cash stuffed into blocks in Saanich yard: police

Thick wads of $100 and $50 bills were found stuffed in concrete blocks in the backyard of a Saanich home, totalling more than $1.1 million, which police believed to be the proceeds from an illicit-drugs operation.
Seized cash
Sidney/North Saanich RCMP showed evidence gathered during a large drug production and trafficking operation, where drugs and $1million in cash was seized. Photograph by Darren Stone/Times Colonist

Thick wads of $100 and $50 bills were found stuffed in concrete blocks in the backyard of a Saanich home, totalling more than $1.1 million, which police believed to be the proceeds from an illicit-drugs operation.

At an outbuilding in rural North Saanich and rental home in Shawnigan Lake, police discovered clandestine drug laboratories. They seized cocaine, methamphetamine, thousands of doses of GHB (also known as the date rape drug), steroids and pill presses.

The cash, lab and drugs were  found during a year-long investigation into drug production and trafficking on the Saanich Peninsula, police said Tuesday at a news conference.

Four people have been arrested. One of the suspects is a woman who, police believe, used her biology and chemistry courses from Vancouver Island University to help produce counterfeit prescription drugs and steroids, the ingredients for which were smuggled into Canada from China.

Sidney/North Saanich RCMP launched an investigation in December 2015 after receiving a tip from an informant. As the scale of the drug operation revealed itself, the detachment called in resources from Central Saanich and Saanich police departments.

Police initially focused on a home in the 1100 block of Quatsino Drive in North Saanich, where investigators believe drugs were being made in a clandestine laboratory in an outbuilding. The drug operation later moved to a home in the 2300 block of Ravenhill Road in Shawnigan Lake. Police did not explain why the operation was moved.

Investigators carried out three searches. The first was in May 2016 at a home in the 4300 block of Torrington Place, where the $1.1 million in cash was found, said Sidney/North Saanich RCMP Cpl. Hayden Barrow.

In June, police raided the Shawnigan Lake home and seized a large quantity of drugs. On June 29, Meagan Breanna Blake,   Christopher Paul Hyland and James Rempel were arrested in a traffic stop on the Trans-Canada Highway in Langford as they were leaving Shawnigan Lake.

In August, police returned to the Torrington Place home and seized two kilograms of cocaine. The second search yielded evidence that led to charges against Alexander Djafar-Zade.
Investigators did not say how the drugs were being distributed. But Saanich police spokesman Acting Sgt. Jereme Leslie said the production of 50 litres of GHB, enough for 10,000 doses, is concerning, given the proximity of the Torrington Place home to two high schools and the University of Victoria.

Leslie said Saanich police put “significant resources” into undercover surveillance to confirm that the drugs were being trafficked on the streets.
At the news conference Tuesday, drugs and cash were on display.

The GHB was in two large jerry cans. Pills including testosterone, counterfeit Viagra, prescription medication and drug-making ingredients, were in evidence bags.
Two pill presses were on a counter.

Investigators would not say whether there’s a link to organized crime, but they did seize a leather motorcycle vest identifying the group as “Deadratz Victoria” with a patch that says “president” and “founder.” The vest belonged to Djafar-Zade, investigators allege, and his motorcycle was also seized.

Barrow said some of the ingredients for the steroids were sent from China to post office boxes in Brentwood Bay and Saanich.

Some packages were seized by the Canada Border Services Agency but the agency did not alert local police to the seizure. Barrow said he believes packages were being sent from China as far back as 2014.

On Tuesday, a bail hearing got underway in Victoria provincial court for Djafar-Zade, who is charged with possessing cocaine, GHB and MDMA for the purpose of trafficking. The alleged offences took place on May 25, 2016, in Saanich.

Djafar-Zade is also charged with having $1,144,545 in his possession, knowing that all or part of the proceeds had been obtained from the commission of an offence.

Judge Carmen Rogers adjourned the case until Friday for her decision. Djafar-Zade will remain in custody at Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre.

On Monday, Blake and Hyland, both 26, were released on $10,000 bail. The pair are charged with nine counts of unlawfully producing and possessing a controlled substance in North Saanich and in Shawnigan Lake between March 7, 2016, and June 29, 2016. They are also charged with 12 counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking on June 29, 2016. The controlled substances include GHB, anabolic steroids and prescription medication.

The two are also charged with possessing the precursor to GHB for the purpose of producing a controlled substance.

kderosa@timescolonist.com
ldickson@timescolonist.com