Police in Prince George say officers have seized hundreds of pills and other suspected drugs including fentanyl and methadone in an operation targeting trafficking outside a pharmacy.
The ongoing operation comes after last week’s leak of a Ministry of Health document revealing investigations into alleged diversion of safe-supply opioids dispensed by B.C. pharmacies.
Prince George RCMP say the seizure was made Tuesday when officers saw a man and a woman completing what appeared to be “hand-to-hand transactions.”
They say officers arrested the pair and found suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine as well as weapons and illegal cigarettes.
Police say there were also 50 bags of “suspected pharmaceuticals” totalling more than 700 individual pills and two bottles of suspected methadone.
RCMP say the suspects have been released pending the outcome of the investigation.
The leaked briefing by a Ministry of Health investigative unit said a “significant portion” of opioids prescribed in the province are being diverted, and prescribed alternatives to street drugs are being trafficked across Canada and internationally.
The briefing said law enforcement agencies would be targeting “specific pharmacies” as part of the next steps to address the issue.