RCMP bust 'drug pipeline' between B.C. and Alberta

RCMP say that investigators have busted a major “drug pipeline” between B.C. and Alberta, seizing more than $2 million in drugs and cash and arresting more than a dozen suspects, with a number of them already facing charges.

The arrests stem from a two-year probe – dubbed Project Edler – focused on an interprovincial drug ring, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team announced Wednesday. The investigation ended on June 5.

Investigators allege that a high volume of drugs including fentanyl, cocaine and meth were being shipped between the two provinces, starting in Vancouver, in a “complex scheme that included vehicles equipped with hidden compartments.”

Those drugs were then being shipped to Edmonton and Calgary with further distribution points across the province.

Two homes, two businesses and multiple vehicles were searched, police said. The drugs alone have an estimated street value of $1.5 million. Other items seized include:

9.3 kilograms of cocaine
17.2 kilograms of a cocaine buffing agent
6.0 kilograms of methamphetamine
684 grams of fentanyl powder
$514,335 cash
A handgun with suppressor and expanded magazine
5 vehicles with hidden compartments

Investigators believe that Neil Kravets, 28, of North Vancouver, coordinated the supply of drugs from B.C. and oversaw the group’s activities. He has been charged with instructing a criminal organization.

Eleven suspects with Kravets’s alleged drug network were arrested, many of whom were charged with participation in a criminal organization and conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl.

A total of 59 charges have been laid against: