REGINA — A three-month investigation by Regina Police Service Drug Unit (RDU) has resulted in the arrest of two people and a Canada-wide warrant for a third, after officers uncovered a fentanyl manufacturing operation and seized more than $500,000 worth of drugs.
The investigation, which began in May, focused on a group of individuals from Regina and British Columbia who were believed to be involved in the production and trafficking of fentanyl in the city of Regina.
On Aug. 17, RDU investigators executed a search warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act at a home in the 3800 block of East Cormorant Drive.
The search resulted in the following items being located and seized:
• Evidence of a fentanyl manufacturing operation;
• Approximately 1.5 kilograms of processed fentanyl, prepared for street distribution;
• 81.44 grams of suspected pure/unprocessed fentanyl (capable of yielding an additional 3-5 kilograms of processed fentanyl);
• Large quantities of caffeine powder and other substances commonly used in the manufacturing of fentanyl for street distribution;
• Approximately 900 grams of methamphetamine;
• $24,525.00 in Canadian Currency.
Police say it’s believed that this seizure prevented well over 50,000 single doses of illicit fentanyl from being distributed on the streets of Regina. The approximate street value of this seizure is in excess of $500,000.
“This is the first time a charge has been laid in Regina for the production of fentanyl,” said Regina police in a media release on Aug. 19.
Evan Drew Silzer, 33, of Regina and Matthew Yohana, 20, of Richmond, B.C., were arrested and are facing numerous charges.
They are charged under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act with production of a controlled substance, fentanyl, trafficking of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, two charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl, and under the Criminal Code with possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000. Both have made their first appearance in Provincial Court.
A Canada-wide warrant has been issued for 22 year-old Cassidy Marie Arsenault of Burnaby B.C. in relation to this investigation.
She faces the following charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: Possess, transport a substance intending it will be used to produce a controlled substance, two charges of trafficking a controlled substance, methamphetamine and fentanyl, and two charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl. She also faces a charge under the Criminal Code of possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000.
“Once on the street, this large amount of fentanyl would have resulted in serious harm to our community,” said Supt. Kelly Trithart of the Regina Police Service Investigative Services Division. “Our investigators are focused on holding high-level dealers accountable and this is a great example of the success that comes with having the resources to conduct these lengthy, complex investigations.
Still lots of work ahead for police
In speaking to reporters at a media availability at RPS headquarters, when asked if there would be further charges or arrests Trithart said the investigation is "ongoing."
"There's still lots of work to do on it. And so I can't say whether or not that will be the case. It's possible, depending on the type of evidence that gets revealed as we continue on with the investigation."
As for how they were made aware of this situation Trithard said they enter into investigations a lot of different ways.
"It's from, you know, getting information from people. It's from talking with our own members that have attended to calls for service on their own and found out information. There's a lot of different ways that it happens. And then they'll start an investigation and decide whether or not they should continue on with it if it's a viable thing."
He said with their drug investigators, "they're looking for a higher level, kind of a more sophisticated, complex investigation to satisfy. So for this one, they really wanted to make sure that basically they just wanted to have some kind of tangible, compelling evidence that's going to lead to the production of fentanyl. That was an investigation that they wanted to go into."
Trithart said the fact this was the first time a charge has been laid for production of fentanyl was "very concerning. Anything to do with large amounts of drugs in our city is concerning for the police service, for our public safety, and for our community."
"We've obviously had lots of drugs in our city that end up here. They're transported from other cities and they end up ending up in Regina. But this is the first time where we've seen that the actual usable product is produced here. So that's kind of the difference where we're having drugs that are being transported here and supplied to Regina versus now we have a raw product that came to Regina and they produced it here in order to make an enormous amount of usable product for the people in Regina that are addicted."
When asked if these arrests will send the right message that Regina is no place to do that kind of activity, Trithart said "certainly, I hope so."
"That enforcement is always part of the objective in giving a message that that's unacceptable to do those kind of criminal acts here and they only lead to the lack of safety for our public and those feeds into our addicted. So certainly, I hope that that's the case."
