Fentanyl found in Chinese package bound for Winnipeg
21-year-old man faces drug charges after 'white substance' found in parcel
Canada border officials and police are accusing a young Winnipeg man of importing the dangerous drug fentanyl from China.
The Canada Border Services Agency says its officers in Vancouver found 39 grams — up to 400 doses — of fentanyl in a package from China destined for a Winnipeg address, the agency and RCMP said Thursday in a joint statement.
The package was declared as "documents" but further inspection led officers to discover a "white substance" inside. Lab analysis determined it to be fentanyl, according to the statement.
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The drugs were turned over to RCMP and a 21-year-old man was arrested in Winnipeg on Aug. 5.
He faces charges of importing and possessing a controlled substance for the purposes of trafficking, along with a weapons-related charge, the CBSA said.
His first court date is Sept. 8.
Between Jan. 1, 2010 and March 31, 2016, CBSA has made 84 seizures of fentanyl, according to the agency.
Growing concerns about the illegal use of fentanyl recently moved Manitoba's former NDP government to create a task force to help raise awareness of the powerful synthetic opioid.
The province said in January that it would also be supporting the development of a program to distribute naloxone, a drug known to bring overdose victims back from the brink of death, to injection drug users and other high-risk opioid users in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority's area.
Police and health officials have warned that fentanyl, an opioid similar to morphine and heroin, can be as much as 100 times more powerful and toxic than morphine. They have issued public warnings that people using other street drugs may be ingesting fentanyl without knowing it.