The premier of Alberta is directing two of her ministers to organize an emergency meeting with their B.C. counterparts after RCMP officers in Prince George claimed Thursday that a recent drug bust included diverted safer supply drugs.
The Prince George RCMP said after a months-long investigation, it had seized over 10,000 pills, including prescription and non-prescription drugs.
Mounties in that city claimed the “Morphine and Hydromorphone (also known as Dilaudid) are safe supply prescription drugs.”
“We have noted an alarming trend over the last year in the amount prescription drugs located during drug trafficking investigations, noting they are being used as a form of currency to purchase more potent, illicit street drugs,” Corp. Jennifer Cooper said in a statement. “Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs, some of which are then moved out of British Columbia and resold. The reselling of prescription drugs significantly increases the profits realized by Organized Crime.”
In their statement, Mounties did not say how they confirmed the drugs seized came from B.C. safe supply program.
In a statement Friday, Alta. Premier Danielle Smith shared that her province has been warning “for years” that the diversion of opioids from safer supply programs could be trafficked across Canada, “potentially causing irreparable harm and death in communities across the country.”
“In Alberta, we have made the provision of ‘safe supply’ illegal to prevent this very thing from happening. Unfortunately, that does not stop organized criminals from bringing it here illegally from other provinces,” she said.
“With the serious concern of diversion becoming evident and the reality that these drugs may be ending up for resale in Alberta, I have asked Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis, and Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Dan Williams, to request an emergency meeting with their counterparts in British Columbia to stop the flow of these high-potency opioids to Alberta.”
CityNews has reached out to the Prince George RCMP for more information.
Listen live to CityNews 1130 to keep up to date with this developing story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.
