A Richmond man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for importing over 13 kilograms of fentanyl and other drugs into Canada from China.
Jaroslaw Orzel, 38, pleaded guilty Nov. 25 in Richmond Provincial Court to two counts of possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking.
He was also sentenced to three years on one count of possessing a restricted firearm with accessible ammunition, namely a semi-automatic rifle.
Twenty-one other drug and weapons charges were stayed.
“Just 0.002 of a gram of fentanyl could be fatal and this seizure has potentially prevented an untold number of overdoses,” said Supt. Keith Finn of the RCMP’s federal serious organized crime unit.
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) identified a suspicious importer in July 2017, who was importing fentanyl into Canada through international mail and courier systems.
That importer, Orzel, was linked to seven previous CBSA seizures of fentanyl, totalling approximately 3.5 kg.
Once the importer was identified, the border agency alerted the RCMP’s federal serious organized crime unit, which continued the investigation under the name Project EPhiloxenia.
The RCMP searched Orzel’s Richmond residence Aug. 10, 2017, where they seized 9.3 kg of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues; 7.6 grams of W-18 mixed with caffeine and fentanyl; 2.6 grams of carfentanil mixed with fentanyl, heroin and caffeine; ketamine; cocaine; MDMA and other substances.
They also seized a Glock 17 handgun and ammunition; the aforementioned rifle; $195,415 in Canadian currency; and 2.19 Bitcoins.
“This staggering amount of fentanyl could be on the street today were it not for much behind-the-scenes, dogged persistence by our intelligence-gathering and RCMP team members,” said Yvette-Monique Gray, director of CBSA’s Pacific region enforcement and intelligence division.
Between January and October of this year, there were 702 deaths — or about 85 percent of all illicit drug deaths — resulting from drug overdoses where fentanyl was detected, according a Dec. 5 report by the B.C. Coroner’s Service. Carfentanil was detected in 129 of those deaths.
From January to December of 2018, there were 1,337 deaths where fentanyl was detected.
According to the report, Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria and Abbotsford saw the highest number of fentanyl-related deaths this year.
