Name of country not being released for now, authorities tell The VOICE
ON May 22, Randy Norman Per, 42, and Tenny Guon Lim, 34, were arrested for possession for the purpose of trafficking by a team of RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime (FSOC), Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers.
Police said they seized 35 kilograms of heroin secreted within the shipped goods during the arrest. The two have been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. Per has been released while Lim remains in custody.
The arrests resulted from an 18-month criminal investigation with important contributions from all agencies. The investigation focused on allegations that an individual or individuals were involved in the movement of suspected contraband from South Asia into Canada, via the Vancouver International Airport.
But authorities told The VOICE that at this stage of the ongoing investigation they could not reveal what country or countries the drugs came from. However, in view of the number of drug seizures at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport from flights from Pakistan over the past years, The VOICE believes that this shipment was also from that country. It’s also possible that because so many shipments were caught in Toronto, the drug smugglers may have decided to try to switch over to Vancouver International Airport.
Police said that organized crime groups continuously seek to penetrate legitimate systems to transport illegal commodities in order to achieve profit. This RCMP Federal Policing-led coordinated investigation has successfully prevented a significant quantity of heroin from reaching British Columbia and Canada, said Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout, Criminal Operations Officer – Investigative Services and Organized Crime. This seizure will protect countless Canadian individuals and families from heroin’s potential destructive impact.
This is a significant seizure not only because it is the largest heroin seizure in the CBSA Pacific Region’s recent history, but also because an organized internal conspiracy has been disrupted. This seizure and the arrests of individuals involved in drug smuggling demonstrates the excellent work being done by our CBSA intelligence officers, border services officers and the RCMP in detecting and preventing illegal drugs from entering our country and our communities, said Yvette-Monique Gray, Director of CBSA’s Enforcement and Intelligence Division, Pacific Region. The CBSA has a shared objective with its domestic and international law enforcement partners to impede the flow of drugs across international borders, and to investigate and interdict the international movement, production and trafficking of narcotics.
Rideout said, “This heroin seizure represents a serious loss to the organized crime group attempting to import and profit from its illegal and destructive distribution here in Canada.”
The investigation remains active and ongoing. The two accused are scheduled to make their next court appearance on July 8 in Richmond.
