VicPDB次元官网网址檚 new drug processing room and equipment is the first step in the departmentB次元官网网址檚 efforts to make handling drugs safer for officers.
Staff Sgt. Conor King, the officer in charge of the investigation that detected carfentanil in a quantity of seized heroin , said while the new lab is a major improvement, the facility has its limitations.
B次元官网网址淭his is our first full measure to make officers safe and to have a room that really has the safety equipment that they need,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hen weB次元官网网址檙e dealing with really big drug seizures, itB次元官网网址檚 going to be a challenge operating in a room like this.B次元官网网址�
King said his goal is to eventually have an off-site lab to determine what the drugs are and contain them before bringing them into the building.
But for now, the new lab makes drug investigations safer.
Safety equipment on hand includes air-purifying respirators, gloves, goggles and lab coats. The self-contained vacuum hood, often found in chemical laboratories, captures fumes and particles that come off the drugs when theyB次元官网网址檙e being analyzed.
B次元官网网址淚nhalation is our single greatest risk when it comes to fentanyl,B次元官网网址� King said. B次元官网网址淭he samples we are dealing with are toxic at very minute amounts.B次元官网网址�
And then there is the ion scanner, a machine similar to those used at airports to detect drugs and explosives, which last week found carfentanil for the first time in Victoria.
The potentially deadly drug was detected in heroin seized by West Shore RCMP in Langford on Aug. 2 as part of a joint operation. Officers arrested two men following a vehicle stop in the 1000-block of Goldstream Ave. Fentanyl was found in both a half kilogram of cocaine and an amount of methamphetamine seized, along with cash, brass knuckles and marijuana.
B次元官网网址�(Carfentanil) is considered to be 100 times more potent than fentanyl,B次元官网网址� King said. B次元官网网址淐arfentanil is a growing problem and we will see more and more of it. It will only exacerbate the death rate.B次元官网网址�
There were more than 900 overdose deaths in B.C. last year, and fentanyl played a part in many of them. But this is the first time carfentanil has been found in Greater Victoria, although police suspected it was already here.
B次元官网网址淚t is likely there are other carfentanil samples out there,B次元官网网址� King said, adding that more dealers are using it and fentanyl to increase profits. B次元官网网址淚t is nothing short of a ruthless enterprise, because it is killing people at an astronomical rate.B次元官网网址�
Horst Francisco Schimer, one of the two men taken into custody, faces drug-related charges and charges for breaching court-ordered conditions, which include not possessing weapons or drugs, and being under house arrest. The second man was released on a promise to appear later in court.
