RCMP officers in Richmond seized more than 1,000 pills resembling OxyContin during a traffic stop early Wednesday morning.
The pills are believe to contain fentanyl.
Two officers stopped a Jeep Cherokee just after 1 a.m. in the area of Buswell Street and Park Road. They found the drugs hidden in a secret compartment of the jeep and arrested a 23-year-old man from Surrey.
The green pills are marked with ‘CDN’ and ’80’ and a sample has been sent to the forensic laboratory for testing.
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“Our patrol officers have been very proactive,” says Cpl. Dennis Hwang with the Richmond RCMP. “It illustrates that traffic stops are far from being routine. We are extremely concerned that fentanyl is being discovered in our community. The risk involved in taking fentanyl is very real. We take this opportunity to remind users of illicit drugs that should they choose to use, don’t use alone and start with a small amount.”
READ MORE: Full coverage on fentanyl and its use across Canada
BC Coroners Service says from Jan. 1 through May 31 of this year, there were 54 fentanyl-detected deaths in British Columbia, meaning fentanyl was found in the post-mortem toxicology testing. That compares with 90 for 2014, 49 for 2013 and 13 for 2012.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse says in 2014, the 90 lives lost represents 25 per cent of all illicit drug deaths in British Columbia, an increase from five per cent in 2012.
Fentanyl has been detected in illicit-drug deaths in many communities throughout British Columbia, with the largest numbers of deaths in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Surrey, Maple Ridge, Prince George, Langley and Fort St. John.
– With files from Yuliya Talmazan
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