Guns and drugs were among the items seized by New Westminster police as part of a “complex investigation” into drug trafficking that began in 2022.
In a news release, the New Westminster Police Department reports that its Street Crime Unit executed numerous search warrants in New West in March 2024 as part of the investigation that began two years ago.
“As a result of the search warrants, the NWPD seized numerous firearms, stun batons, and kilograms of drugs,” said the news release. “The seized drugs are suspected to be MDMA, cocaine, and fentanyl. The estimated street value of the drugs seized is an estimated $280,000.”
According to the NWPD, numerous charges are being recommended for trafficking in a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and various weapons offences.
The NWPD Street Crime Unit worked with several other New Westminster Police Department specialty units, including the Gang Suppression Unit and the Crime Reduction Unit.
“Our Street Crime Unit has worked extremely hard on this file to disrupt a drug trafficking cell in New Westminster,” Sgt. Andrew Leaver said in a news release. “We want to assure the community that we take illicit drug trafficking extremely seriously given the harm these drugs can have.”
More to come on this investigation.
The New Westminster Police Department said this investigation is connected to arrests that were made in the area of McBride Boulevard and Eighth Avenue on March 28.
Around 11 a.m. that day, the NWPD’s Street Crime Unit, with the assistance of the Lower Mainland District Emergency Response Team, made arrests in connection to an ongoing drug trafficking investigation.
An earlier NWPD news release said flash bangs, which are very loud and used to distract suspects, were used. Two suspects were taken into custody without incident.
“Warrants were also executed in two multi-family residences in Uptown and Downtown New Westminster,” said the March news release. “The investigation involved working with other police agencies in the province with a focus on drug trafficking and violent offenders in New Westminster.”
The New Westminster Police Department asks community members who have information about drug trafficking in New West to share what they know with investigators by calling 604-525-5411.
