A 21-year-old Winnipeg man is facing charges for allegedly importing fentanyl from China into Canada in late July.
On July 25, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers at the Vancouver International Mail Centre intercepted 39 grams or almost 400 doses of the lethal opioid in a parcel originating from China and destined to a Winnipeg address.
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Initially the parcel was designated as documents but after further inspection, officers found a white substance that was later confirmed to be fentanyl.
The CBSA turned the fentanyl over to the RCMP on August 5; which resulted in a joint operation in Winnipeg and the eventual arrest of Jayden Obireck-Becker.
Obireck-Becker has been charged with importation and possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, and with possession of a prohibited weapon.
“Fentanyl continues to pose a significant threat to public safety,” said RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit Insp. Tim Olmstead in a statement.
“Division Inter-agency cooperation, as seen in this investigation, is the key to keeping Canadians safe from the dangers of fentanyl.”
Fentanyl has been linked to 60 per cent of drug-related deaths during the first five months of 2016, according to July statistics from the B.C. Coroners Service.
Illicit drug overdoses have killed a total of 371 people in B.C. in the first half of 2016, with 60 per cent of those showing fentanyl or a combination of fentanyl and other illicit drugs in toxicology reports.
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The number of deaths is a 74.2 per cent increase from the same period in 2015 in B.C., while the proportion of fentanyl-linked deaths have doubled.
It’s the biggest jump in fentanyl deaths in B.C. since the drug started growing in popularity in 2012.
The updated report on fentanyl-linked overdoses shows people aged 20 to 39 accounted for 57 per cent of all deaths.
From January 2010 to March 2016, the CBSA says it has made 84 seizures of fentanyl.
~ with files from Jill Slattery