Police in North Saanich say they’ve seized more than $1-million in cash and multiple jerry cans full of GHB, the so-called date rape drug, that they allege were concocted by a Vancouver Island University student studying chemistry.
Police announced the seizure and arrests following a multi-jurisdictional investigation more than a year in the making.
It started in Dec. 2015, when Sidney-North Saanich RCMP partnered with Saanich and Central Saanich police to probe reports of a clandestine drug lab.
In May 2016, a warrant executed at a home in the 4300-block of Torrington Place in Saanich turned up a quantity of drugs and more than $1.1-million in Canadian dollars.
That June, another search warrant uncovered a drug lab at a residence in the 2300-block of Ravenhill Road in Shawnigan Lake.
Police found precursor materials used in the creation of anabolic steroids, as well as finished products, pill presses, and drums filled with thousands of doses of Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.
It’s unclear where the drugs were intended to be distributed.
The Torrington Place property was especially concerning due to its proximity to schools and the University of Victoria, according to Saanich Police spokesman Sgt. Jereme Leslie.
“In that just over two-kilometre radius you have an elementary school, a middle school, you have two high schools and you also have the University of Victoria,” said Leslie. “Through this investigation, for my understanding, is there’s enough date-rape drug to be supplied to every single student at the University of Victoria.”
A third warrant executed at the Torrington Place property in August found an additional two kilograms of cocaine.
No fentanyl was seized in the wide-ranging operation.
Four people have been arrested and charged in connection with the busts.
Alexander Djafar-Zade, a 48-year-old Saanich man, has been arrested on charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime.
Shawnigan Lake residents Megan Blake, 26, and Christopher Hyland, 26, are charged with nine counts of production of a controlled substance, 13 counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of transporting a Class A precursor.
James Thomas Rempel, a 26-year-old also from Saanich, has been charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of transporting a Class A precursor.
“As far as who those people are and how far up the chain they go, those are still investigative things that we’re looking into,” said Sidney-North Saanich RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Erin Fraser.
Precursors are used to make drugs, something police say chemistry student Blake knew a lot about after attending classes at Vancouver Island University.
Investigators believe Blake used that knowledge to produce the drugs for sale.
All of the accused appeared in Victoria Provincial Court Tuesday.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Louise Hartland
