Downtown Safety Unit targets street-level drug traffickers…

PRINCE GEORGE, BC: In an effort to curb the presence of illegal narcotics in the City centre, the Downtown Safety Unit has been proactively targeting street-level drug dealers.

On April 14, 2021, the Downtown Safety Unit responded to a call from a concerned resident who witnessed overt drug use on the 1400 block of 9th Avenue. Downtown Safety Unit members attended the location and located three people with whom they were familiar from similar interactions. The investigators witnessed a “hand-to-hand” transaction and arrested the three individuals. When police searched one of the males, they found used scales, containers, a phone, and a quantity of suspected fentanyl. The amount of fentanyl located has a street value of $3500. Police released the individuals at that time, pending the results of their investigation.

On April 17, 2021, members of the Downtown Safety Unit were patrolling the City Centre in an unmarked police vehicle when they witnessed two people complete a hand-to-hand transaction in the area of 1st Avenue and George Street. The two people were arrested for Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking. Members located a quantity of suspected fentanyl, cash, and a phone and used scales. The value of the drugs in this instance was $300. Police released the individuals pending the results of this investigation.

On April 24, 2021, while conducting patrols in the downtown area, members of the Downtown Safety Unit pulled over a vehicle for an observed Motor Vehicle Act infraction in the area of 1st Avenue and George Street. When police approached the vehicle, the driver and passengers began to argue verbally with them. Police arrested all involved for Obstructing a Peace Officer and a search of the vehicle located another quantity of suspected fentanyl, a large quantity of suspected methamphetamine, a replica firearm, over $1500 in cash, OC spray and a phone. The street value of the drugs seized is $3500. One of the males arrested in this instance was also the subject of the Downtown Safety Unit file on April 14th .

The quantity of suspected fentanyl seized by members of the Downtown Safety Unit concerns police, as fentanyl is a highly potent and addictive synthetic opioid analgesic that is estimated to be up to 100 times more potent than morphine. The effects of fentanyl are unpredictable. Users have no idea the level of purity or the potency of what they take. When mixed with antidepressants, fentanyl is potentially lethal.

“We would like to thank the businesses operating in the Downtown area for their efforts to contact police when they witness a drug interaction or people acting suspiciously in their area. We encourage residents and employees who witness hand-to-hand transactions to continue to report this to police, so we can continue our enforcement efforts against drug traffickers in the Downtown core,” states Cst. Amrit Dhadwal of the Downtown Safety Unit.

If you have any information about this or any other criminal offence, please contact the Prince George RCMP at (250)561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-8477 or online at www.northernbccrimestoppers.ca

Written and released by Prince George RCMP. No edits.