An Abbotsford man has been charged with four counts of drug trafficking following what police say is the largest drug seizure in Surrey’s history.
Pardip Hayer, 30, was arrested on March 16 in the Newton area of Surrey while he was in a vehicle. Police seized $4.5 million in heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, fentanyl and fake oxycontin from the vehicle.
The information was not released by police until last Friday (April 1), when the Surrey RCMP held a press conference to discuss the slew of shootings that have occurred in the city so far this year.
At that time, police confirmed there had been 28 “shots-fired” incidents in Surrey, and that most are related to the drug trade. At least five of the shootings are connected to two groups fighting over drug turf, police said at the press conference.
As part of their crackdown on the drug trade, police displayed the drugs that had been seized on March 16.
"It was an ongoing investigation strategy on our part, that we pulled this individual over," said Surrey RCMP Supt. Shawn Gill, adding the drugs were from another country.
The size of the seizure of drugs has police thinking it could have come from gang-level activity.
"We would be remiss to not examine the potential for links to organized crime," said Gill.
Several drive-by shootings and two murders have been linked to gang activity in Abbotsford in the last two years. The dispute over drug turf has been dubbed the Townline Hill conflict by police.
– with files from The Surrey Leader