Fentanyl seized in N.L.'s largest-ever bust enough to kill half the province, police say

Malone Mullin · CBC News

· Posted: May 07, 2025 12:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary announced Wednesday the details of a cause trafficking bust that officers accidental is the largest successful the province's history.

The September cognition turned up an array of illicit drugs — including 500 grams of fentanyl, which the constabulary unit says is capable of the deadly opioid to termination astir fractional of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Investigators said counterfeit medicine opioids and different pills were being manufactured successful a trailer successful the westbound extremity of St. John's, wherever 2 radical were allegedly mixing fentanyl, carfentanil and different synthetic opioids with different substances and pressing them into pills that resembled Dilaudid and Percocet.

Laboratory results amusement the substances seized from that trailer included:

• More than 500 grams of fentanyl,
• More than 500 grams of methylfentanyl,
• More than 250 grams of fentanyl and different fentanyl analogues which see carfentanil, acetalfentanyl and fluorofentanyl,
• Over 950 grams of cocaine,
• Over 300 grams of crystal meth,
• And implicit 2,000 medicine pills including clonazepam, methylphenidate, oxycodone, lorazepam, benzodiazepines, hydromorphone, morphine, alprazolam, amphetamine, codeine and diazepam.

Police accidental they besides seized firearms and cause manufacturing equipment.

Emma Murphy, 24, and Martin Marks, 29, unneurotic look implicit 80 manufacturing, possession, trafficking and weapons-related charges.

Chris Somerton, 27, was charged with trafficking, possession for the intent of trafficking and possession of spot obtained by crime.

Deputy Chief Colin McNeil said constabulary judge Murphy and Marks worked "closely together, broadside by side," portion Somerton was considered a cause runner.

He told reporters Wednesday day the bust was 15 times larger than immoderate successful the province's history.

"This cause seizure is similar thing we've seen earlier successful this province. To our knowledge, this is the largest fentanyl seizure to day — and by a ample margin," McNeil said.

"This group is referred to arsenic the biggest fentanyl dealer around, and based connected what we recovered, they were operating arsenic a one-stop store for illicit drugs."

McNeil says conscionable 2 milligrams of fentanyl tin beryllium considered a lethal dose. The fentanyl recovered, helium said, would beryllium capable to termination 250,000 people.

Carfentanil and the different synthetic opioids constabulary accidental they recovered from the trailer are magnitudes of bid stronger than fentanyl.

McNeil besides said immoderate of the fentanyl products besides contained xylazine, an animal tranquilizer not approved for quality use. Mixing xylazine and opioids tin summation the hazard of overdose. 

The RNC says anyone utilizing immoderate thoroughfare cause should pass idiosyncratic erstwhile they usage drugs, support naloxone kits connected manus and statesman with a debased dose. 

"Leave your doorway unlocked and archer idiosyncratic to cheque connected you," McNeil said. "Do not usage alone."

Bust portion of broader RNC strategy

McNeil says the spate of cause busts successful the St. John's area successful caller months is simply a nonstop effect of national and provincial funding.

"We person doubled down connected our cause initiatives here," helium said. "We've bolstered our cause units successful effect to the demands that we're seeing ... and arsenic a result, there's a tremendous magnitude of covert and overt enactment being done. Seizures similar this are happening. Smaller seizures are happening. Interventions, interdictions are happening."

Crime statistic and trends person guided the force's attraction to definite areas of the metropolis and types of crime, helium added. 

"We acceptable priorities based connected the trends that we're seeing done quality LED policing initiatives and antithetic things," McNeil said. "So you know, if we person an summation successful a peculiar area, we're going to absorption connected that peculiar area."

However, it's not yet wide wherever the fentanyl successful Wednesday's announcement came from.

Fentanyl enters the state from each angles, said Deputy Chief Stephanie Lagace, "whether it beryllium by boat, by car. So we bash judge it came from ... wrong North America and was brought into our province."

That earthy fentanyl was "then further manufactured into different types of drugs, chopped with different agents and surely had their ain stamp enactment connected it" by the suspects, she said.

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