Drugs, guns, vehicles and thousands of dollars seized in major drug bust

WATCH: Vancouver Police are showing off a large cache of drugs and money after a six month investigation called ‘Project Trooper. John Daly reports.

VANCOUVER – Thousands of pills, hundreds of kilograms of drugs, a dozen firearms, eight vehicles and hundreds of thousands of dollars are just some of the items seized as part of Project Trooper.

This was a six month investigation into a drug trafficking network operating throughout the Lower Mainland.

Vancouver Police say in September, 2014, they learned a criminal organization was supplying residents of the Downtown Eastside with drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Police say the criminals were also believed to be shipping large quantities of drugs to Vancouver Island and Alberta.

On March 11, 2014, the VPD, along with their policing partners and investigators from the Vancouver Police Organized Crime Section, executed 11 search warrants throughout Vancouver, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Surrey and Maple Ridge.

Items seized:

• 5 kg of cocaine
• 6 kg of heroin
• 2 kg of methamphetamine
• 23,000 fentanyl pills
• 228 kg of phenacetin
• 12 firearms and ammunition including handguns, shotguns, rifles and assault rifles
• a crossbow
• GPS tracking devices
• a radio jamming device
• 8 vehicles, 4 with hidden compartments
• approximately $575,000 in cash

The total value of the drugs seized is estimated at $1.8 million.

“The assistance of Federal Serious Organized Crime (FSOC) and the RCMP in executing the search warrants was essential to the success of the project,” says Vancouver Police Superintendent Mike Porteous.

Charges are being recommended against 11 people for drugs and weapons offences.

“Project Trooper is another example of the alliance between law enforcement agencies in the Lower Mainland,” says Porteous. “We have a common goal, and that is to target violent and dangerous criminals and take them off the street.”

Police say fentanyl continues to show up in liquids, powders and pills, and can be masked in virtually any consumable product. Fentanyl-laced heroin, oxycodone and other party drugs have resulted in the deaths of many occasional drug users.