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RCMP have arrested three suspected cocaine traffickers who are part of a Surrey-based criminal organization linked to the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

Cpl. Arash Seyed, of the federal organized crime unit, said at a news conference Wednesday that his agency had succeeded in “disrupting” the organization’s plan to launch large-scale importation of cocaine in Canada.

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So far, no charges have been filed and all three men have been released while the investigation continues.

The trio were arrested on September 23 at their “heavily fortified headquarters” in a residential area, Seyed said, although he did not provide a location or elaborate on the suspects.

“During the execution of the warrant, investigators discovered that the residence was surrounded by a fence, steel gates and barbed wire. The entrance doors were completely covered by metal shutters, with the interior and exterior of the residence equipped with video and audio surveillance systems,” he explained.

Inside, officers found “23 firearms, several thousand rounds of ammunition, several pounds of illegal drugs and other items” that were on display at the press conference.

Seyed showed a metal box with a lid embossed with the Apple logo and said it was a cocaine press “used to make what they call bricks or birds.”

“As you can see, this criminal operation planned for large-scale distribution.”

Police also seized three Mexican passports, all linked to a foreign national who was arrested and allegedly sent to Canada “largely for launching this operation.” He entered Canada legally but has no permanent residence.

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Seyed would not identify which Mexican cartel was involved, but referred to the U.S. arrest in July of one of the cartel’s leaders.

Sinaloa boss Ismael (El Mayo) Zambada Garcia arrested in New Mexico in July and charged with international drug charges in September. A source confirmed that Sinaloa is the cartel linked to the investigation.

Seized assault rifles, shotguns, silencers and handguns were all on display Wednesday, as were several kilograms of fentanyl, methamphetamine, ketamine and wads of cash as well as clothing distributed by the forces of order.

“Federal RCMP investigators first became aware of this transnational organized crime group’s large-scale drug importation enterprise in British Columbia in 2021 and quickly acted to identify, disrupt and ultimately dismantle this Mexican drug cartel proxy before it gains a foothold in Canada. » said Seyed.

The cartels have attempted to establish themselves in British Columbia in various locations for the past 15 years but have been disrupted by police, Seyed said.

A Postmedia investigation earlier this year revealed that the Sinaloa and other Mexican cartels work internationally with BC gangs that have expanded internationally like the Wolfpack and the United Nations. And the investigation found that even though gangs fight at lower levels, they often cooperate at the top.

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Seyed said that “criminal organizations try to establish themselves wherever there is a market, so they are opportunistic and operate a bit like commercial enterprises.”

And the Surrey-based transnational group has worked with all local gangs, even those in conflict with each other.

“In this particular case, there were a lot of local criminal gangs and organized crime groups that maybe weren’t very friendly to each other, but they would have been involved in this drug operation,” he said. -he declared, adding that the process was ongoing. “no different from purchasing from the manufacturing plant.”

Asked about the lack of charges so far, Seyed said the police had done their part and the rest was up to the criminal justice system.

“Obviously our goal is to disrupt and dismantle these criminal organizations, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” he said. “As far as the criminal justice system goes, the time it takes to get charges and things like that, that’s out of the police’s control. »

He said the firearms found were particularly disturbing.

“I think it’s pretty obvious that they’re involved in some pretty dangerous local criminal networks, involved in a violent war on drugs, and so you can clearly see why that’s concerning.”

The Surrey investigation is not linked to the record-sized illicit drug super lab discovered in Falkland last month, a lab created in part by the Wolfpack to produce fentanyl and methamphetamine for export.

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