The Surrey Police Service (SPS) says two foreign nationals have been removed from the country, and a third was charged and remains in custody after a seizure of drugs with an estimated street value of almost $900,000.
According to Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, the man who was charged is believed to be one of the city’s biggest drug traffickers.
“We’ve caught an individual who we believe was trafficking, and, there is the potential, with all drug traffickers,” Houghton told 1130 NewsRadio.
He says the man may have “dozens or even hundreds of clients.”
“The reality with this is, we do believe we’ve caught one of the main distributors, at least for a network that they may have been involved in.”
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Police say the seizure follows a four-month investigation into several people believed to be involved in drug trafficking.
The investigation, which the SPS has dubbed “Project Phantom,” was initiated in February. In May, detectives, with the assistance of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), executed a search warrant for a home believed to be involved in drug trafficking, police say.
“As a result of the search warrant, three men were arrested and drugs, worth an estimated street value of $891,000, were seized,” Surrey police said in a news release.
The drugs seized included opium, cannabis, cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, Houghton says.
All three were released after the arrest, according to the SPS. On June 19, it says, a 24-year-old man was re-arrested and charged with one count of trafficking in a controlled substance and one count of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. He remains in custody.
The other two men were not charged with any offences but were removed from the country by the CBSA, Houghton says.