Vancouver Police investigates ‘unexplained’ toxic drug poisoning in Chinatown

A man in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood was found in medical distress after police say he “fell mysteriously ill from fentanyl poisoning” last week.

The 56-year-old man was walking along East Pender Street between Main and Columbia streets around 9 p.m. on Nov. 22 when he had a “brief encounter with a person” before “falling ill,” police say.

Speaking to CityNews, Const. Tania Visintin says officers in the area came to the man’s aid before he was taken to hospital “for what was determined to be fentanyl poisoning.”

“Initially, we did not launch an investigation because there was evidence at the time that no crime had occurred. … But after receiving information from one of his family members, there may be a chance now that he was intentionally exposed to fentanyl by the stranger,” she explained.

However, Visintin says police cannot confirm how the man may have been exposed, which is why police have launched an investigation.

“We need to figure that out and we’re looking to speak with anybody who has information on how this man may have been exposed to fentanyl,” she added.

Visitin confirms police are unsure if the poisoning was due to the interaction with the woman, or elsewhere, saying that it is “all forming part of the investigation.”

“We’re not ruling out that it was intentional or not ruling out that it wasn’t intentional,” she said.

Visintin notes that the man’s family has claimed he is not a known drug user, so they are “working with him, the family, and medical professionals to understand how these lethal drugs did enter his system.”

“We don’t have a lot of answers right now. It’s basically an unexplained drug poisoning.”