A Saanich man has been arrested and a significant amount of fentanyl was seized after a covert drug-trafficking investigation.
Investigators from Victoria police’s property crime unit and plainclothes officers spent a month tracking a suspected drug trafficker as he operated across Greater Victoria.
On June 21, police and tactical officers with the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team raided two homes in residential neighbourhoods of Colwood where the drugs were being packaged and prepared for sale.
Police seized 900 grams of cocaine and more than 1.4 kilograms of fentanyl, as well as several firearms and two vehicles. Investigators believe the fentanyl was headed for downtown Victoria streets.
“Investigators suspect that the fentanyl located is likely of a higher purity and the quantity may be many times greater once made ready for the end user,” said the department’s drug expert, Staff Sgt. Conor King.
King said that quantity and purity of fentanyl likely has a street-level value of at least $1 million. Investigators believe the fentanyl came from the Lower Mainland.
“This file is another example that drug trafficking doesn’t follow geographical boundaries and we work with other jurisdictions to prevent drugs from getting on our streets,” King said.
Andrew Ritch is charged with two counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of a loaded firearm.
Three other people linked to the drug operation could be facing charges and King said the investigation continues.
The seized vehicles will be handed over to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office.
The seizure of fentanyl is one of the largest since October 2016, when Victoria police seized $1.2 million worth of drugs after being tipped off by the Canada Border Services Agency.
Duc Khoung Pham, of Montreal, was arrested by Victoria police after the department was alerted by CBSA when a package en route to Victoria from China was intercepted at the Vancouver International Airport. The package had 1.45 kg of fentanyl. Further investigation led police to a Saanich home, where they seized 6,052 individual doses of a heroin mixed with fentanyl.
In February, Pham was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
