Drugs, handgun and $10K cash seized from Vancouver DTES SRO after six-month probe

Vancouver police seized nearly $66,000 in illicit drugs plus weapons and cash from a Downtown Eastside SRO. A 61-year-old man was arrested.

Six-month investigation nets drugs, weapons and cash from East Hastings SRO

Vancouver police seized nearly $66,000 worth of illicit drugs, a handgun, multiple weapons and more than $10,300 in cash from a single-room occupancy building in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver Sun Crime reports.

Officers launched Project Bingo last December after observing suspicious activity at an SRO near East Hastings and Princess Avenue. The investigation ran for six months before a search of the property was carried out last month.

The search yielded 287 grams of fentanyl, 107 grams of cocaine, 549 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 303 hydromorphone pills — substances the Vancouver Police Department estimated carry a combined street value of $65,922.

Alongside the drugs, police recovered 17,200 cigarettes packed in 86 cartons, valued at approximately $3,300. Officers also found a handgun with ammunition, body armour, a crossbow, swords and additional weapons.

A 61-year-old Vancouver man was arrested and subsequently released as the investigation continues. The VPD said it will recommend several charges to the B.C. Prosecution Service.

The seizure is one of several recent enforcement actions in the same neighbourhood. Earlier this month, police announced charges against three people following a separate drug bust at a nearby SRO. That operation, targeting a unit at 339 East Hastings St. between Gore and Dunlevy avenues, uncovered more than $2 million in street drugs and approximately $141,000 in cash in July of last year. James William Clapp, Roy Alvin Haynes and Jose Inacio face drug-related charges in that case.

In March, police searched two additional suites in the same building, which investigators believe are connected to the same drug-trafficking operation.

Source: Vancouver Sun Crime