British Columbia

Aldergrove's 856 gang busted, $400,000 in drugs seized

B..C's anti-gang task force has arrested three alleged members of the 856 gang and seized heroin, cocaine and Oxycontin with an estimated street value of $400,000.

3 men arrested alleged to be part of gang, which is named after Aldergrove telephone prefix

Cocaine buff seized from alleged 856 gang members in July 2014 . Police say the 856 gang started in Aldergrove, BC and muscled its way into northern BC, Alberta and Yellowknife (CBC)

B.C's anti-gang task force has announced the arrest of three alleged members of the 856 gang and seized heroin, cocaine and Oxycontin with an estimated street value of $400,000.

Sgt. Lindsey Houghton with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit says police got a tip earlier this month about a possible drug house in the 4600 block of 236 Street in Langley which led to a raid last week.

"The 856 game is a violent group made up of members and associates operating in the Lower Mainland, and as far away as places like Fort St. John, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Alberta and even Ontario," said Houghton. "They have been in existence for close to a decade."

Police have not released the men's names or what charges could be laid.

The gang, named after an Aldergrove telephone prefix, first came to police attention in 2007 as a small-time organization of men in their late teens and early 20's doing petty crime, vandalism, assaults and drugs, sometimes involving guns and other weapons.

Police say this 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and "buff" into brick. (CBC)

In 2007, police launched a coordinated effort to eliminate the gang, after police said members were involved in an attempted murder involving a car chase and shootout in Langley.

Last year, RCMP in Yellowknife arrested nine members of the gang for allegedly selling crack cocaine and marijuana in an operation known as Project Goblin.

Google map: 4600 block, 236 Street, Langley, B.C.

With files from the CBC's Jesse Johnston