False Halloween kidnap call results in North Van drug bust

The North Vancouver RCMP believes somebody lied by calling in an armed kidnapping at a warehouse full of drugs on Halloween.

The call came in at around 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to Const. Mansoor Sahak.

“Obviously, this individual has some knowledge of what was happening in this warehouse and decided to phone that in. There was a brief description, but what was provided to us was that there was somebody held at gunpoint and kidnapped and they were at that warehouse,” he explained Thursday.

“Officers immediately responded to contain the warehouse in question. Two vehicles and occupants were safely arrested on departure from the building.”

Sahak says so far, the investigation “has yielded absolutely nothing suggesting a kidnapping actually occurred.”

“Police believe the kidnapping allegations to be a false flag, intended to target the drug-trafficking warehouse,” he added.

In total, he notes four people were taken into custody. The people in the first vehicle were arrested by Mounties on the Ironworkers Bridge, while the occupants of the second vehicle were arrested in Vancouver with the help of the VPD.

While the kidnapping call appears to have been false, the warehouse around Richmond Street and Mountain Highway had an estimated $500,000 worth of very real illegal drugs.

“Several search warrants were executed which resulted in the seizure of a significant quantity of drugs and cash. The warehouse appears to have been the site of a drug-trafficking lab, where drugs were stored, prepared, packaged to be shipped and sold on the streets,” Sahak said.

The drugs seized included an array of illicit substances, including magic mushrooms.

“The items included seized are eight kilograms of dried cannabis, five kilograms of raw mushrooms, 500 packages of mushroom,” Sahak described, adding pills, gummies, and more were also found.

Investigators say it appears the majority of the product found was being prepared for shipment to “individual customers across Canada.”

None of the drugs, even those packaged “pretty professionally” are Health Canada approved, Sahak points out.

It’s unclear if this operation is related to other similar investigations in the region, he adds.

So far, two people arrested have been charged with counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The other two people have not been charged, though Sahak says that could change as the investigation moves forward.