A provincial anti-gang police unit has arrested three men and seized nearly $400,000 worth of illegal drugs as a result of its investigation of the Langley-based “856” gang.

At a press conference Wednesday morning, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC showed off multiple kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine it had seized from the alleged gang members, as well as large amounts of heroin and Oxycontin.

Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, a spokesman for CFSEU-BC, said the bust was “one of the larger ones” his organization has ever dealt with.

The seizures came as a result of an investigation that began in early July. On July 22, police arrested one man outside of an apartment in the 4600-block of 236th Street in Langley. While officers were there, two other men who were suspects in the investigation arrived. One was arrested on the scene and the other fled on foot and was arrested several hours later.

The following day, detectives from CFSEU-BC executed a search warrant on the apartment where the arrests had been made. Police say it was evident that the apartment was not lived in and they believe it was being used as a drug processing and repackaging facility.

Police found the majority of the drugs they seized in the apartment. They said they also found more than 44 kilograms of a cocaine cutting agent called “buff” and a 20-tonne press used for re-pressing bricks of cocaine after it has been cut.

“Our detectives were a bit surprised to see the level of sophistication, the variety of drugs, and to go so far as to have what is essentially a fully functional reprocessing and repackaging facility,” Houghton said.

The three men arrested, aged 23, 25, and 47, were interviewed and released from police custody pending charges. Police believe all three are high-ranking members of the 856 gang.

Houghton said it could be as long as two months before the Crown brings charges against the arrested men. He said the police intend to recommend heavier charges because of the sophistication of the operation.

“To us, this is clear trafficking,” he said.

Police said the gang has existed for almost a decade and is named for the phone prefix for the Aldergrove area. It operates primarily in the Lower Mainland, but has members and associates as far away as Fort St. John, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Alberta, and Ontario, police said.

Houghton said this bust would have a significant effect on the gang’s activities, but that it would not spell the end of their organization.

“The investigation is still ongoing,” Houghton said. “We’ll be sharing what we’ve learned by dismantling this with all of our law-enforcement partners in communities where we know 856 has an influence.”

CFSEU-BC thanked the RCMP’s Lower Mainland District Integrated Police Dog Services Unit and its Air One traffic helicopter crew, as well as the Langley RCMP and the Surrey RCMP for their help in the investigation.