The case of a Vancouver man charged with three Burnaby drug trafficking charges will move to arraignment for the taking of pleas July 26.
Minh Trung Thach, 27, faces three charges of possession of controlled substances for the purposes of trafficking. The charges relate to fentanyl, fentanyl and carfentanil and cocaine.
Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Jennifer Oulton heard July 12 that the Crown is ready to proceed with the case.
Thach and two other Vancouverites were charged with drug trafficking offences after police seized four kilograms of fentanyl as well as other drugs and cash, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) announced in May.
CFSEU-BC said police received information in May 2020 that prompted the start of a Metro Vancouver drug trafficking investigation.
That investigation led to search warrants being executed at four residences: one in Vancouver, another in Abbotsford and two in Burnaby. Officers seized fentanyl, heroin, fentanyl mixed with other drugs, carfentanil, ketamine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
About $24,000 was also seized.
On May 16, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada charged the three people, CFSEU-BC said.
Thach was initially charged with four counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Karina Marie Graham, 32, has been charged with three counts of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking.
And Trung Thanh Nguyen, 40, has been charged with one count of trafficking a controlled substance and one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking,
The three were arrested and released on court-imposed conditions.
Fentanyl has been at the centre of the ongoing opioid crisis in B.C. for years now.
Some 12,264 B.C. deaths have been attributed to drug toxicity since the public health emergency was declared in 2016.
An estimated 82 per cent of those deaths involved fentanyl.
