A Victoria man was sentenced to 41 months in jail for his part in trafficking enough fentanyl to potentially kill thousands of people, along with other drugs.
Micah Jair McClure, 40, was arrested in November 2017 by the Victoria Emergency Response Team, with his co-accused Tristan Keith Gordon Jenkins, 27. They were charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
The court heard back in April, that after disembarking a ferry in Nanaimo from the Lower Mainland in November 2017, Jenkins and McClure got into a cab and began to make their way towards downtown Victoria. Jenkins had picked up drugs in Vancouver with the intention to sell them in Greater Victoria and police believed he may have been armed.
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More than half-a-dozen surveillance vehicles followed the cab, eventually stopping at a gas station where police made the decision to act.
Four officers dressed in balaclavas circled the cab, two on either side with a fifth positioned near the driver’s seat, with instructions to remove the driver immediately and arrest the two suspects.
Jenkins and McClure were seated in the back seat with a bag between them.
Police seized 250 grams of fentanyl and 100 grams of cocaine at the time of the arrest. It was previously noted in court, the amount of fentanyl seized was enough to kill thousands of people.
Earlier this year, the pair presented the argument that unreasonable and excessive force was used in their 2017 arrests and had breached their charter rights. But the judge found both arrests were lawful and did not breach Charter rights.
McClure was found guilty in June and was recently sentenced to 41 months in jail. Jenkins was found guilty in August and his sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 15.
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