5 charged after allegedly selling carfentanil as heroin for higher price
CBC News | Posted: June 11, 2018 5:14 PM | Last Updated: June 11, 2018
Calgary Police Service says investigators seized more than $50K worth of drugs
Calgary police have charged five people suspected of knowingly selling carfentanil and fentanyl as heroin.
Investigators with the Calgary Police Service's strategic enforcement unit started on the case last October by testing a substance believed to be so-called purple heroin.
The analysis from Health Canada showed it was actually carfentanil mixed with fentanyl, police said in a statement issued Monday.
Officers then launched a seven-month investigation, which culminated in the arrest of five people late last month.
"They were attempting to get a better price by selling it as a higher quality product," unit Staff Sgt. Kyle Grant alleged in the statement.
"We have no way to know how many people may have suffered an overdose as a result."
Carfentanil is 100 times stronger than fenantyl and can be fatal in tiny doses.
Drugs, knives seized
Officers searched a home in the 300 block of Taralake Way N.E. in Calgary. The search turned up drugs believed to be worth more than $50,000.
In total, 218.4 grams of carfentanil, 15 grams of powder fentanyl and 75.7 grams of crack cocaine were seized, as well as $9,555 in cash, police said.
Gurpreet Multani, 23, was arrested at the home and charged with two counts of trafficking and three counts of possessing the proceeds of crime.
On May 24, police tactical unit officers also stopped and searched a vehicle. Police say they found $440, 16.4 grams of carfentanil, two large knives and multiple cellphones.
Four men — Zuhavr Ali, 21, Amrit Manhas, 21, Bubrak Khan, 21, and Dylan Ferris, 18 — each have been charged with one count of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of proceeds of a crime.
Officials in multiple Ontario cities have issued warnings about so-called purple heroin — which is a mix of heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil and morphine — after the substance was tied to several overdoses.
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