Surrey RCMP seize guns, drugs, cash in trafficking investigation

Mounties in Surrey are touting a recent seizure of illicit drugs as one of the largest in the detachment's history.

Authorities said searches of seven properties in multiple jurisdictions on the Lower Mainland yielded a combined 102.8 kilograms of cocaine, fentanyl, MDMA and meth, as well as nearly 2,000 counterfeit and prescription pills, more than $100,000 in cash, and illegal firearms.

Staff Sgt. Glen Leeson, with the Surrey RCMP Drug Unit, said the fentanyl alone amounted to more than 300,000 doses and had a street value of around $7 million. He described the seizure as one of the most significant he's seen on his two decades on the job.

The investigation into allegations there was a criminal group trafficking guns and drugs began in 2023. Leeson said it started at the "street level" and "moved up the supply chain, to the wholesalers and distributors of the drugs."

While no charges have been approved by federal prosecutors, Mounties say multiple suspects were identified and three were arrested.

"This is a complex file," Leeson said. "The Crown's going to have to go through all the evidence and, ultimately, they have the decision here on who gets charged and who doesn't get charged. That's the law, and that's our obligation here in Canada."

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson