Cross-country drug bust yields 386 kg of fentanyl, thousands of arrests

Police across Canada have seized hundreds of kilos of fentanyl and charged thousands of people over the course of a five-month bust the RCMP is describing as "significant."

But officials detailing the results of the blitz — dubbed the National Fentanyl Sprint 2.0 —stressed on Tuesday that Canada is still not a major exporter of the drug, despite concerns raised by the U.S. administration.

The fentanyl-focused sprint took place from May to October, involved more than 100 police agencies across Canada and targeted fentanyl traffickers, production labs, distribution networks and financial enablers. 

According to a news release, the sprint lead to 8,136 arrests and charges and the seizure of:

The bust represents 78 per cent of reported fentanyl seized in Canada this year, according to a media briefing on Tuesday.

Of the thousands of arrests, 217 were for trafficking fentanyl while on bail.

"I'm struck by the magnitude of this effort," Kevin Brosseau, the government's fentanyl czar, said on the call.

"I absolutely underestimated the scale and scope of the fentanyl crisis in this country manifesting itself across cities and towns."

There’s been a renewed effort north of the border to publicly show efforts to reduce the flow of fentanyl since the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump a year ago, as he has previously raised the drug coming into the U.S. as justification for sweeping tariffs on Canada.

The federal government responded to Trump’s early tariff threats with a $1.3-billion border plan.

Dan Anson, director general of intelligence and investigations at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), said a total of about 400 grams of fentanyl, destined to move either north or south, was seized in the sprint, which he described as minimal.

"Small, small amounts. Negligible," he said.

"We continue to not be an exporter of fentanyl. We have a  domestic issue," he said.

The operation was through the Canadian Integrated Response to Organized Crime (CIROC), a law enforcement co-ordination body which works to disrupt organized crime through intelligence. It's co-chaired by the RCMP and the Sûreté du Québec.