A Coquitlam resident is charged with 10 offences in connection with a cross-Canada drug operation.
Last Wednesday, Dec. 13, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) approved drug- and firearm-related charges against Alexander Demetrios Fasogiannis.
The criminal case against the 34-year-old man will come before a judge on Jan. 8, 2024, according to a news release issued today, Dec. 18, by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC (CFSEU-BC).
The charges come after a year-long investigation by the agency’s Anti-Trafficking Task Force (ATTF), in which police seized a large quantity of illegal drugs, weapons and cash.
Working with investigators in Manitoba, as well as the Coquitlam and Ridge Meadows RCMP detachments and the Lower Mainland District Integrated Emergency Response Team, the task force arrested three men after executing four search warrants on Lower Mainland homes between Aug. 17 and 24, 2022, where police say they uncovered:
- 1 kg of fentanyl plus 1,713 pills containing fentanyl
- 6 kg of methamphetamine
- 5 kg of cocaine
- 1 kg of MDMA
- 2 kg of MDA
- 407 tabs of LSD
- 350 grams of psilocybin
- 6 kg of benzodiazepine
- 1 kg of phenacetin
- other small amounts of ketamine and marijuana
- 5 kg in cutting agents
- about $250,000 CDN cash
- crypto currency believed to be valued at $194,000 at the time it was seized
- 26 firearms, including four restricted handguns, prohibited magazines and ammunition
- various drug trafficking items and paraphernalia; score sheets, drug packaging and mixing paraphernalia, cell phones and computer flash drives
- four vehicles
Coquitlam charges
Following the probe, Fasogiannis now faces the following charges under the Controlled Drug and Substance Act, as well as the Criminal Code of Canada:
- two counts of trafficking a controlled substance, methamphetamine
- one count of trafficking a controlled substance, fentanyl
- one count of possession of a controlled substance, cocaine
- one count of possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine
- one count of unauthorized possession of loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, Glock 21sf handgun
- one count of unauthorized possession of an unloaded prohibited or restricted firearm, Glock 21sf handgun, with accessible ammunition
- one count of unlawful storage of a firearm
- one count of unlawfully possess a prohibited or restricted firearm, Glock 21sf handgun
- one count of unlawfully possess a prohibited device, an over capacity magazine
"This investigation led to the disruption of an alleged cross-Canada drug trafficking operation that took drugs and firearms off our streets preventing the potential harm they cause to our communities," said Supt. Kevin O’Donnell, CFSEU-BC’s deputy operations officer, in the news release.
"Working collaboratively with our law enforcement partners is integral to fulfilling our mandate to disrupt, suppress and prosecute organized crime in our province."
Howie Avenue weapons
Also today, Dec. 13, Coquitlam Mounties arrested a man at a home in the 1100-block of Howie Avenue in Coquitlam in connection to a weapons call.
"This was an isolated incident," a detachment spokesperson told the Tri-City News.
"No physical injuries were sustained and there is no ongoing risk to the public."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550 and quote file number 2023-33950.
