Arrests linked to Mexican drug cartels

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say they have arrested three men in Surrey, British Columbia, believed to be linked to a transnational criminal group with connections to drug cartels in Mexico.

The accused are alleged to have played a role in the importation of cocaine into Canada.

Their arrest followed a search on September 23 in a home which was surrounded by a barbed wire fence and steel gates, police said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

According to Corporal Arash Seyed of the GRCone of the suspects is a Mexican national. The other two are Canadians with contacts with virtually every criminal group in British Columbia .

Investigators seized 23 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and kilos of illegal drugs. Their headquarters was dismantleddit le caporal Seyed.

The three men have been released from custody and police will recommend drug and firearms-related charges, police said.

Their identities and that of the cartel or criminal group cannot be made public at this time due to the ongoing investigation.

The GRC says the arrests follow information obtained in 2021 that the group was importing drugs into Canada. Corporal Seyed says another member of the criminal group was arrested in the United States in July, leading to the arrests in Surrey.

Prescription tablets

Meanwhile, as part of a separate investigation, police arrested four other people on suspicion of trafficking large quantities of drugs, including diverted prescription pills, in Burnaby.

The arrests followed a four-month investigation into interprovincial drug trafficking, during which police executed search warrants in the neighboring towns of Coquitlam and Surrey.

Officers seized more than 9,500 hydromorphone pills, believed to be diverted prescription pills, as well as other substances, including more than a kilo of what may be cocaine.

The group is believed to have shipped the drugs as far as Manitoba and the Yukon, as well as locally, police said.

Fentanyl in the form of dog treats

In a third case, firearms, bulletproof vests, diamonds and fentanyl in the form of dog treats were also seized, Greater Vancouver Transit Police said Tuesday.

Two people were arrested.

They are the subject of multiple charges in connection with a drug sale operation sophisticated also in Surrey.

These two individuals posed a serious risk to public safety due to their access to firearms and the fact that the drugs they were allegedly trafficking were shaped like dog bones.said Constable Amanda Steed, spokesperson for the Greater Vancouver Transit Police.

The fact that [les substances] shaped like a dog treat is of great concern to people who don’t know what they’re picking up if they see something on the street. And for our pets, who are also part of the familysaid Amanda Steed.

Police say they seized 3.4 kilos of fentanyl, approximately 29 grams of cocaine, five firearms, a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta and approximately $37,000 in cash.

With information from The Canadian Press