Drugs and firearms were seized as police raided several Greater Victoria properties on Jan. 31, including a spot associated with a local motorcycle club.
Officers from various police agencies seized 450 grams of fentanyl, 150 grams of methamphetamine, $46,000 in cash, an SKS rifle and handguns. Police say that amount of fentanyl alone would make up at least 4,500 individual doses.
“This number could be drastically higher and in the tens of thousands based on the purity level of the fentanyl,” said West Shore RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Nancy Saggar.
The raids were performed in Colwood, View Royal, North Saanich and Victoria. One Colwood woman and two Langford men were arrested during the enforcement. One of the Langford men was a full-patch member of the Savages Motorcycle Club.
“The Savages are related to drug trafficking…we believe that there’s strong evidence there to associate them to gang activity as well as drug trafficking,” said Saggar.
The Savages group is known to be a support club of the Hells Angels, police noted.
The operation targeted alleged dealers and commercial operations that police said dealt with the storage, supply and logistics of drug trafficking carried out by the motorcycle club.
Nine different search warrants were carried out during the January raids. The police actions were carried out in the early morning so children going to Ruth King Elementary School would not witness the raid, said Saggar.
The operation involved 40 police officers from the West Shore RCMP, the RCMP Emergency Response Team, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit – British Columbia (CFSEU-BC), the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team and Victoria Police.
“We are committed to dismantling and disrupting the drug trade in West Shore,” said Sgt Ryan Walsh, of the West Shore RCMP’s Drugs and Organized Crime Unit.
READ MORE: UPDATE: West Shore RCMP raid Island Motorcycle Club in drug trafficking probe