Drugs

A heavily armed army convoy departs the prosecutor’s building where Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, is in custody in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. The mayor of a Mexican city caught up in a wave of drug cartel violence last week wasted little time reassuring Canadians and other foreign visitors that his city is safe for travellers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Fernando Llano

Mazatlán mayor reassures Canadians and other visitors following cartel violence

Canadian tourists had to remain in hotels for days after arrest of major alleged drug leader

A heavily armed army convoy departs the prosecutor’s building where Ovidio Guzmán, one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, is in custody in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. The mayor of a Mexican city caught up in a wave of drug cartel violence last week wasted little time reassuring Canadians and other foreign visitors that his city is safe for travellers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Fernando Llano
The Pacific Institution is shown in this undated handout photo. A prison union spokesman says a pigeon carrying a miniature backpack filled with drugs was captured last week at the B.C. correctional facility. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Pacific Institution

Pigeon toting crystal meth in tiny backpack caught in Abbotsford prison yard

Officers’ union president says it’s another example of how creative drug smugglers have become

The Pacific Institution is shown in this undated handout photo. A prison union spokesman says a pigeon carrying a miniature backpack filled with drugs was captured last week at the B.C. correctional facility. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Pacific Institution
Men carry furniture after looting a store, as a truck burns on a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, an alleged drug trafficker wanted by the United States and one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a pre-dawn operation Thursday that set off gunfights and roadblocks across the western state’s capital. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Martin Urista

Canadian tourists remain barricaded in hotel amid Mexican cartel violence

Hotel lobby full of people who slept there overnight after flights cancelled

Men carry furniture after looting a store, as a truck burns on a street in Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Mexican security forces captured Ovidio Guzmán, an alleged drug trafficker wanted by the United States and one of the sons of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in a pre-dawn operation Thursday that set off gunfights and roadblocks across the western state’s capital. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Martin Urista
Josh Derrah and Gina Dias. (Submitted photo)

Cold weather shelter not open on night of homeless man’s death in Duncan

28-year-old Josh Derrah died outside of the A&W on Dec. 20

Josh Derrah and Gina Dias. (Submitted photo)
Dave Laboucane was on suboxone when becoming clean earlier this year but returned to Kelowna’s Tent City and suffered severe burns in a fire attempting to keep his tent warm in the cold weather. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

“There is help out there”: Kelowna burn victim identified as man with 22-year troubled past

Another example of Kelowna’s homeless population and the province’s ongoing drug crisis

Dave Laboucane was on suboxone when becoming clean earlier this year but returned to Kelowna’s Tent City and suffered severe burns in a fire attempting to keep his tent warm in the cold weather. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

B.C. man among three accused of drug smuggling in Washington state

More than 180 kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl was found in duffel bags on the beach

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
Roman and Lukas Tassone are charged with a series of drug-related criminal offences. They remain at large as of Dec. 7, 2022. (Photos courtesy of CFSEU-BC)

Hells Angels member, 6 others charged in BC-wide drug trafficking bust

Drugs, cash, weapons and Hells Angels clothing seized throughout Lower Mainland, Okanagan

Roman and Lukas Tassone are charged with a series of drug-related criminal offences. They remain at large as of Dec. 7, 2022. (Photos courtesy of CFSEU-BC)
Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)

Mapping where overdoses are more likely to kill in B.C.

Fatality rates far higher in rural areas than urban ones

  • Dec 6, 2022
Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)
A large quantity of drugs, including prescription drugs, was found in a Vernon drug bust Nov. 30, 2022. (RCMP photo)

2,400 pills found in crowded home during Vernon drug bust

RCMP concerned over increasing number of prescription pills found in possession of drug traffickers

A large quantity of drugs, including prescription drugs, was found in a Vernon drug bust Nov. 30, 2022. (RCMP photo)
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has approved charges against six alleged B.C. drug traffickers. Three of them remain at large, including Roger Bardales Medina (left), Joseph Lowley and Diego Saed. (Photos courtesy of CFSEU-BC)

6 B.C. men charged with trafficking drugs through Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

All believed to be aligned with Wolfpack gang

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has approved charges against six alleged B.C. drug traffickers. Three of them remain at large, including Roger Bardales Medina (left), Joseph Lowley and Diego Saed. (Photos courtesy of CFSEU-BC)
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march to the Ministry of Health building where pictures of loved ones hang on display during the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency on opioid-related overdose across the province in Victoria, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

179 people died from B.C.’s poisoned drug supply in October

October’s numbers bring 2022’s total to 1,827 lives lost

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march to the Ministry of Health building where pictures of loved ones hang on display during the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency on opioid-related overdose across the province in Victoria, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Statue of Lady Justice at Vancouver law courts. (File photo)

Convicted Surrey drug dealer whose sister was murdered loses court appeal for leniency

Man sentenced to 9 months jail and 6 months probation for selling cocaine and oxycodone to undercover Surrey Mounties on four occasions

Statue of Lady Justice at Vancouver law courts. (File photo)
FILE -Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C.’s overdose crisis: drugs, death and denial on the job

A recent survey of construction workers in B.C. found 1 in 3 self-reported problematic substance use

FILE -Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - Rabbi Ben Gorelick, measures out a precise amount Sacrament, psilocybin mushrooms, during Sacred Tribe Sacrament ceremony at the Synagogue, his home, on Nov. 6, 2021, in Denver. Colorado voters are deciding whether theirs will be the second state, after Oregon, to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for those 21 and older. A ballot measure would create state-regulated “healing centers” for patients to experience the drug. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, File)

Colorado votes on decriminalizing ‘magic mushrooms’

Legislation would create state-regulated ‘healing centres’ with licensed psilocybin ‘facilitators’

FILE - Rabbi Ben Gorelick, measures out a precise amount Sacrament, psilocybin mushrooms, during Sacred Tribe Sacrament ceremony at the Synagogue, his home, on Nov. 6, 2021, in Denver. Colorado voters are deciding whether theirs will be the second state, after Oregon, to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for those 21 and older. A ballot measure would create state-regulated “healing centers” for patients to experience the drug. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, File)
A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Dozens of recommendations in overdose and drug toxicity report by B.C. MLAs

Report calls for fewer barriers to safe supply, expanded take-home naloxone program

A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

B.C. sheriff points to staff shortages, guard apathy for drugs in prisons

Sheriff speaks on anonymity as to how drugs get into prisons

File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
(Black Press Media Creative)

B.C. pharmacists welcome new prescription powers, but eye administrative burden

Starting Oct. 14, B.C. pharmacists will be able to administer more vaccines and renew prescriptions

(Black Press Media Creative)
Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

169 British Columbians killed from toxic drug supply in August: Coroner

Number a small decrease from 192 deaths in July

Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE — The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

VIDEO: Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in early results of study

Patient decline reduced by 27% in initial study

FILE — The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
A month-long initiative by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in the Okanagan led to the seizure of illicit drugs, weapons, firearms, and cash while working to disrupt and lessen opportunities for gang violence (Brittany Webster - Capital News)

Estimated 29,000 lethal fentanyl doses taken off Okanagan streets

CFSEU-BC completed the initiative in partnership with RCMP detachments throughout the Okanagan

  • Sep 21, 2022
A month-long initiative by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in the Okanagan led to the seizure of illicit drugs, weapons, firearms, and cash while working to disrupt and lessen opportunities for gang violence (Brittany Webster - Capital News)