Three men have now been charged in connection with millions of dollars worth of drugs, weapons and cash having been seized in Victoria and the Lower Mainland late last year.
Brian James Balla, 34, originally from Calgary and now living in Victoria, has been charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking a controlled substance.
Vu Bao Nguyen, a 34 from Surrey, has been charged with possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking and trafficking a controlled substance.
Brent William Van Buskirk, a 35-year-old man originally from Vancouver, has been charged with possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing a non-restricted firearm without a license and possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.
At the time of his arrest in relation to this investigation, Van Buskirk was on parole for a 2004 murder conviction, police said. Van Buskirk had his parole revoked due to his arrest and is being held in custody awaiting the judicial process.
The other two men are also in custody, police confirmed.
These charges are in relation to a joint forces operation between the Victoria police’s Strike Force and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC (CFSEU-BC), which led to a $30 million seizure of drugs, including fentanyl along with the weapons and cash.
The investigation began in June 2021, when the Strike Force team identified an organized crime group trafficking fentanyl in Victoria.
Over the following months, the Strike Force determined the group was also trafficking fentanyl in the Lower Mainland, according to CFSEU-BC.
Investigators found the fentanyl supply chain was also based in the Lower Mainland.
In August, Strike Force investigators approached CFSEU-BC’s Anti-Trafficking Task Force (ATTF) with this information, and the two agencies initiated a joint forces operation agreement.
This was dubbed Project Juliet and the agencies worked together in both Victoria and the Lower Mainland.
On Nov. 17, trike Force and CFSEU-BC officers coordinated executing search warrants and arrested two people.
The locations targeted in Victoria included a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 500-block of Fisgard Avenue, a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 700-block of Fairfield Road, and a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 1000-block of View Street.
One person was arrested at the Fairfield Road location, CFSEU confirmed.
A second suspect was arrested in a vehicle in the 900-block of Yates Street.
In the Lower Mainland, CFSEU, along with the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team (UGET), Surrey RCMP, and the Vancouver Police Department’s Emergency Response Team and Forensic Identification Unit, executed five search warrants on three separate residential locations and two vehicles.
One man was arrested, officials confirmed.
These locations included a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 1100-block of Seymour Street in Vancouver, a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 4500-block of Halifax Way in Burnaby, and a single-family residence in the 1500-block of 80th Avenue in Surrey.
In Victoria alone, the search yielded more than one kilogram of cocaine, over two kilograms of high-concentration fentanyl, over two kilograms of methamphetamine, and evidence of drug re-purposing and packaging for a trafficking operation, including over six kilograms of cutting agents.
In these locations, officers also seized a replica assault rifle and $50,000 in cash.
In the Lower Mainland, officers seized a kilogram of MDMA (commonly referred to as ecstasy), two kilograms of methamphetamine, more than ten kilograms of high-concentration fentanyl, and evidence of drug re-purposing and packaging for a trafficking operation, including over one hundred kilograms of cutting agents. Officers also seized a kilogram of sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra).
In addition, officers also seized three luxury vehicles, $335,390 in cash, two sets of body armour, two carbine-style assault rifles, three shotguns and seven pistols accompanied by a pistol suppressor or “silencer,” along with approximately 1,000 rounds of various calibres of ammunition. They also seized a variety of false identification documents.
On Dec. 11, CFSEU officers executed an additional search warrant at a storage unit in the 1600-block of Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam and seized two additional sets of body armour as well as eight firearms accompanied by three suppressors, multiple magazines and various types of ammunition.
In total, officers seized 20 firearms ranging from pistols and shotguns to assault-style rifles, CFSEU confirmed in a release. Several of the rifles were modified to be fully automatic, and many of the firearms had serial numbers removed.
The estimated total street value of the seized cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine and high-concentration fentanyl in the operation was approximately $30,000,000.
“The quantities of fentanyl that were prepared for street-level distribution, which contained cutting agents, were still found to be 13 per cent concentration, which is extremely high and would likely contribute to an increase in overdoses,” CFSEU said in a release.
“Typically, street-level concentrations of fentanyl range from three to five per cent.”
Officers estimated that the fentanyl, when cut down to street-level doses, is enough to supply an estimated 3,965,000 lethal doses.
Strike Force and CFSEU-BC will be recommending drug trafficking and firearms charges against one man from Calgary, one man from Surrey, and one man from Vancouver.
“When we talk about the scope of this project, this is the top of the fentanyl trafficking pyramid in British Columbia,” Victoria police chief Del Manak said in a release.
“This sends a strong message that police agencies are united across this province. We have a shared vision and every day we will continue to do the important work of making an impact against organized criminal groups in our communities.
“The provincial opioid crisis continues to affect people from all walks of life, across all socio-economic groups. It reaches into our high schools and our homes. The tremendous outcome of this joint project is just one step in the targeted enforcement of drug traffickers harming our communities.”
On Wednesday it was announced illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. are second only to cancers in shortening the lives of residents to an average age of 44, prompting a call from the chief coroner to let go of old prevention measures that have been “an abject and very costly failure.”
Lisa Lapointe said 2,224 suspected overdose deaths were recorded in the province in 2021, a 26-per-cent rise over the previous year. There were 215 deaths in December, five more than in November.