VANCOUVER police have arrested 19 suspected heroin traffickers and issued warrants for 11 others in response to the growing number of overdoses attributed to high-quality heroin smuggled into Canada from Hong Kong and China.
At least half of the suspects are from Hong Kong and the mainland.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Drug Squad Staff Sergeant Jerry Meloci said the sting surfaced a number of alleged ''cell group'' wholesalers, supplied by the Big Circle Boys and other criminal organisations in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
''Undercover operatives were able to infiltrate lower and mid-level dealers and buy more than 500 grams of heroin . . . leading to more than 50 charges against the suspects,'' Sergeant Meloci said.
He said a glut of heroin on the streets had forced dealers to compete by dropping prices and boosting quality, resulting in an unprecedented number of overdoses in Vancouver this year.
Police said much of the heroin sold to undercover officers in the past few weeks was identified as number-four grade.