Tests confirm substance seized from Pickering home was 420,000 doses of carfentanil
Posted October 16, 2017 3:16 pm.
Last Updated October 16, 2017 3:29 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Lab results from Health Canada have confirmed that a substance seized from a Pickering home last month was the deadly opioid carfentanil.
Durham regional police said they seized 53 kilograms of unknown substances from a residence on Liatris Drive on September 30 with 42 kilograms later confirmed to be carfentanil – a synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than fentanyl.
The seizure amounted to 420,000 doses of the drug, which experts say can be deadly in quantities as small as a grain of salt.
The drugs had an estimated street value of $13 million.
Police also allege they seized 33 guns, along with ammunition.
Maisum Ansari, 33, of Oshawa, was initially charged with over 330 firearms offences.
Following the positive lab results that confirmed carfentanil, he’s now facing additional charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking a schedule 1 substance.
He’s being held in custody pending a bail hearing.
Police say they came upon the alleged cache of drugs and weapons when fire crews responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at the suspect’s home and noticed suspicious substances in the basement.
Firefighters alerted police, and a search warrant was later executed.
