Sydney OxyContin bust largest in region: police

Cape Breton Regional Police are calling the seizure of 25,000 tablets of OxyContin the largest drug bust of its kind in Atlantic Canada.

Police seized the prescription narcotics from a car in a downtown Sydney parking lot on Friday, and arrested two men.

The details were only released Monday at a news conference at police headquarters.

Staff Sgt. Paul Jobe said the bust was a result of a larger investigation into drug crimes in the region.

"We instigated surveillance and we stayed there until such a time as we got people coming to the vehicle, and that's when we took the vehicle down," he told reporters.

Police said the OxyContin, known as hillbilly heroin on the street, was intercepted before it could be passed on to street-level drug dealers on the island.

With an estimated worth of $750,000, the OxyContin seizure is the largest in the region, if not the country, police said.

The tablets are the same as those sold in pharmacies, so investigators are trying to find out where they came from.

Christopher John Allingham, of Halifax, and Todd Douglas Miller, of Montreal, are expected to appear in court to face charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

So far this year, Cape Breton Regional Police have seized nearly $5-million worth of illegal drugs.