The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) was following three vehicles when officers searched a rural property in 91原创 last week.
More details of the raid are emerging after members of the VPD executed a search warrant on a 16-acre blueberry farm located behind a number of smaller lots along 240 Street near Fraser Highway.
Based on eyewitness accounts, the incident stretched over four days and at one point saw heavily-armed police use an armoured personnel carrier to break through a metal gate.
It began Sunday, Nov. 11, when a Dodge mini-van, Dodge pickup and what may have been a white Acura or Mercedes, moving at a high rate of speed, turned off 240 Street down a one-lane gravel road leading to the farm behind the houses.
A few hours after arrival of the three vehicles, police in SUVs blocked off the road at the 240 Street turnoff.
When one resident of the area asked, the officers would only say they were waiting for a warrant.
The next day, a large force of heavily armed police, many in SUVs with blacked-out windows, showed up, lining up at the turnoff.
鈥淭hey were up the hill as far as you could see (up 240 Street),鈥� said one resident, who lives immediately in front of the farm on a separate property fronting 240.
Another witness, who saw the police waiting up on Fraser Highway said she could also see an ambulance, apparently waiting with some units of the police.
The ambulance did not go in with police and it did not appear any people were injured during the raid.
The resident said several of the police were dressed in military fatigues with flak jackets, machine guns and helmets that appeared to have military-style night scopes.
He said they went in all together, 鈥渂umper to bumper.鈥�
Another neighbour said it looked and sounded like the police used a flash-bang grenade.
The police activity appeared to be centred on two shop buildings.
Later, several tow trucks arrived and could be seen removing the three vehicles from the day before, plus what appeared to be a Ford van.
When someone locked the metal gate leading to the farm after the police first attended the site, an armoured personnel carrier was used to ram the chain-link structure and force it open.
Following that, police could be heard using a loudspeaker to order the occupants of a house near the shops to come out.
鈥淐ome out with your hands up. You鈥檙e all under arrest,鈥� the officer said.
Then, what sounded like a woman鈥檚 voice could be heard calling out, 鈥淒on鈥檛 shoot, don鈥檛 shoot,.鈥�
What appeared to be police with flashlights could be seen searching the rows of blueberries heading away from the shop where the vehicles were left, in the direction of the rear of the farm.
A large truck that looked like a police mobile command centre was moved in.
The owners of the blueberry farm were described as 鈥渘ice people,鈥� good neighbours who would drop off flats of blueberries during the growing season as a thank-you to one resident for looking after the road.
Neighbours said the farm owners did not live on the property but rented out two houses near the shop buildings.
The resident who lives on a smaller lot on 240 directly in front of the blueberry farm said he was assured by police that the activity being investigated posed no physical threat to people living nearby.
The man, who asked not to be named, said he was concerned that some people might think he was somehow involved in the activities the police were investigating.
鈥淭his has nothing to do with me,鈥� the resident said.
Police were saying little about the incident.
Another resident told the Times that whn he asked an officer at the scene what was going on, all he was told was 鈥渂ad people do bad things.鈥�
The police presence wound down on Wednesday.
91原创 RCMP directed queries to the VPD, which issued a brief written statement from spokesperson Const. Jason Doucette, who said the Vancouver Police Department and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit was executing a search warrant 鈥渋n relation to an ongoing investigation into the recent Metro Vancouver gang conflict.鈥�
鈥淲e are not publicly releasing additional information at this time, as it could jeopardize the investigation.鈥�
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The Tuesday raid came less than a week after the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Unit armored vehicle participated in a Brookswood raid, one of several on Wednesday, Nov. 8 dismantling a Lower Mainland gang鈥檚 alleged drug trafficking operations in 91原创 and Surrey.
Eight people were arrested in relation to search warrants executed at properties in Brookswood, Aldergrove and Surrey that are connected to 鈥榮ignificant drug trafficking and organized crime activity,鈥� said Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit spokesperson, Sgt. Brenda Winpenny.
鈥淚t is too early to speculate on what charges Crown may lay, however, our investigation is focused around alleged drug trafficking and organized crime activity,鈥� said Winpenny.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 search warrants are in relation to an ongoing CFSEU-BC investigation into the alleged drug and gang activity of a Lower Mainland criminal group with ties throughout Western Canada,鈥� said Winpenny.
The anti-gang unit executed five search warrants.
鈥淭he evidence seized in the execution of these search warrants will greatly disrupt and impact the illegal activity of this criminal group and its associates, thus having a major impact on the overall gang landscape and any potential threat to public safety.鈥�
Clarification: Photos that appeared in the Wednesday Nov. 15 edition of the 91原创 Times online wrongly implied that a house and barn in front of the scene of the police raid and.an RV, horse trailer and pickup with camper were involved. The Times regrets the error.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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