Police seize guns, drugs, over $10,000 in stolen goods at Metrotown

Transit officers and the Burnaby RCMP have been busy over the last month targeting the SkyTrain station and shopping centre at Metrotown.

The Burnaby RCMP says an initiative to stop “prolific shoplifters” resulted in the recovery of more than $5,400 worth of stolen merchandise in a single evening.

On Saturday, Aug. 3, Mounties say they arrested four people in two hours.

“In one case, two men are alleged to have walked away from a store after grabbing two racks worth of athletic clothing worth approximately $3,500. In another instance, a woman is alleged to have walked out of a store with more than $1,300 worth of stolen clothing in-hand,” the RCMP said in a release Thursday.

Meanwhile, Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP) says 56 people were arrested after an operation targeting illicit drugs, weapons, and stolen merchandise at the Metrotown SkyTrain Station.

Over four days during the month of July, the MVTP says officers in uniform and plain clothes made arrests at the station, the adjacent bus loop, the Metropolis at Metrotown shopping centre, and at nearby businesses.

Police say the items seized in the arrests include:

• 78 grams of fentanyl,
• 15 grams of cocaine,
• 70 grams of cannabis,
• bear spray,
• brass knuckles,
• a replica firearm,
• 21 knives,
• and $5,036 in stolen merchandise.

A similar operation was carried out by transit police in April, resulting in 26 arrests.

That same month, police also seized 23 weapons — which included knives and replica firearms — 142 grams of fentanyl, and six grams of methamphetamine.

Almost $10,000 in stolen merchandise was also recovered.

Police say the Metrotown SkyTrain Station is the second busiest in the region by passenger volumes, while Metropolis is the largest mall in B.C.

—With files from David Nadalini