Anti-gang police haul in drug load after 7-month Chilliwack-based crime probe

SURREY, B.C. – B.C.’s anti-gang police unit says it has busted a major drug pipeline in connection with a Chilliwack-based crime group.

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit says its seven-months long investigation hauled in a massive quantity of narcotics connected with the illegal drug trade in the province’s central and northern regions.

Police say they seized cocaine, crystal meth and fentanyl worth millions of dollars.

Earlier this month, police in Vancouver launched a campaign to warn drug users about fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic up to 100 times more powerful than morphine that’s frequently mixed with street drugs.

Fentanyl was linked to a quarter of the province’s illicit drug overdose deaths last year, most often because casual drug users didn’t know they were taking it.

Vancouver police said they now find fentanyl in almost every street drug.