Nine months of investigations and drug seizures helped Victoria police charge two Victoria men.
Strike Force officers started investigating a “dial-a-dope” drug operation in Victoria in early February, and during their investigation identified a number of high-level drug and weapons traffickers operating in the area. During the weeks that followed, police seized a loaded nine millimetre gun, cocaine and fentanyl from multiple suspects, Victoria Police Department said in a news release.
READ ALSO: Gang enforcement team seizes drugs and weapons in Victoria and Nanaimo
On March 10, those officers, with help from the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) arrested one suspect in Victoria. Officers then executed a search warrant of a suite in the 300-block of Burnside Road East, where they seized an additional quarter kilogram of cocaine, along with large amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone and about $5,000 in cash.
Police say the total street value of the seized cocaine was more than $150,000.
Joshua Stark, 43, is charged with two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance and Dimitar Vitchev, 34, is charged with five counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, four counts of possessions of a controlled substance and one count of trafficking a firearm.
Those charges were announced on the heels of a combined special enforcement team operation to disrupt suspected gang activity in Greater Victoria and Nanaimo. West Shore RCMP, Saanich Police and the Nanaimo RCMP partnered to conduct 33 vehicle stops involving 52 individuals connected to street-level drug trade.
VicPD says the Strike Force team uses surveillance, undercover operations and confidential information to identify, target and arrest dangerous offenders in Victoria and Esquimalt. Strike Force also relies on tips from the public. Anyone with information about drug trafficking or firearms can call the Strike Force line at 250-995-7260.
READ ALSO: Two arrests made during Friday VicPD Strike Force operation
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