What started as a wellness check at a downtown apartment netted Vancouver police hundreds of thousands in cash and millions of dollars’ worth of drugs.
VPD media relations office Sgt. Aaron Roed said officers and paramedics were called to an apartment in the 700-block of Richards Street in the early morning hours of Feb. 15.
“We attended with information from neighbours [about] water leakage and loud sounds inside of the suite,” Roed said.
He said two men inside the suite were found in medical distress. The men, both in their 30s, were treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital.
“While our officers were inside, we did notice a large amount of cash, as well [what is] believed to be illegal narcotics, we immediately got a search warrant and did search that residence, at which time we did find what we believed to be illegal narcotics,” Roed said.
During the search, officers found upwards of a dozen bricks of what is believed to be cocaine, several ounces of a substance believed to be MDMA and three gallons of an unknown liquid Roed said police believe to be GHB, as well as about $200,000 in cash.
“The estimated street value of the drugs is several million dollars,” Roed said.
“It has to be tested at the labs to confirm what substance it is that’s why at this point we haven’t proceeded with charges until we know exactly what these substances are,” he said, adding that it could be several weeks to get test results back.
One of the men is a Vancouver resident, while the other is from Vancouver Island.
“They have not been arrested at this time,” Roed said. “They are suspects in this investigation. They were interviewed and have been released.”
@JessicaEKerr
