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Deadly drug W-18 confirmed in Surrey, Langford

RCMP warn those who use drugs: 'There is no way for you to know what is really sold being to you.'
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The powerful drug W-18 was recently confirmed to have been found in Surrey and Langford, RCMP say.

“The danger is the same if you’re in the big city or in a small community,” Asst. Comm. Jim Gresham, head of the B.C. RCMP’s investigative services and organized crime unit said in a news release Friday. “I cannot stress that enough – there is no safe haven.”

Surrey RCMP seized a number of drugs, including pebble heroin, as part of a dial-a-dope bust in mid-December. Health Canada later determined the presence of W-18 in the heroin.

West Shore RCMP on Vancouver Island recovered a “small clear baggie” holding a white powder that tested positive for cocaine during a call to a home last May. Health Canada reported on Thursday that the powder also tested positive for a strain of fentanyl that “the jurisdiction had not seen … before.”

At the time of the seizure last spring, West Shore RCMP were called to three overdoses. It's unclear whether the overdoses were fatal.

”You must be aware that at any time dangerous and potentially lethal drugs may be present in what you're consuming," Gresham said. “Unfortunately, there is no way for you to know what is really sold being to you. Please take steps to avoid making a potentially lethal decision.”

W-18, which is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl, has previously been detected in drug seizures in Vancouver and Burnaby.

Fentanyl and other deadly illicit drugs continue to be confirmed in communities around the province, the release added, and Mounties continue to investigate.