PRINCE GEORGE

Friday, June 28, 2024. Last updated on July 2, 2024 at 2:04 pm

UPDATE – Police are confirming the 16 year-old youth passed away in hospital over the weekend. RCMP Major Crimes continues to investigate this serious incident.

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A 16 year-old female youth remains in hospital in serious condition after overdosing on fentanyl earlier this week…

Police say on June 26, 2024 at around 7am, officers were called to a home in College Heights after a report came in of a youth found unconscious at the home in the 7600 block of McMaster Crescent. The female youth was transported to the hospital by emergency health services where she was found to have high levels of fentanyl in her blood.

Police remained at the home all day Wednesday, conducting a search warrant to help determine the circumstances around what occurred and if any criminality is involved.

In B.C., adults are allowed to possess up to 2.5 grams of illicit substances for personal use and under certain conditions.. but the law is clear that this is not the case for our youth. Trafficking illicit substances (which includes selling, moving, delivering, distributing or sharing illicit substances) is an offence under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and there are potentially serious consequences for engaging in this activity.

“When the actions of a drug trafficker result in a death these consequences can increase substantially. In Prince George, all drug related deaths are investigated by the RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service. In this case, we also recognize the exceedingly high expectation on police from the public when a youth appears to have been targeted by a fentanyl trafficker,” states Sergeant Whitehouse, Commander of the Prince George RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit.

The RCMP Victim Services unit has been engaged to work with those affected by this incident.