Bricks of cocaine, literally in the hands of a man who fled a vehicle rollover behind Brooks Landing Shopping Centre in April, were likely destined for local streets. (submitted photos)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

substantial bust

Kilograms of cocaine seized by Nanaimo Mounties following rollover crash

Jun 28, 2022 | 10:55 AM

NANAIMO — Local Mounties confirmed they intercepted two kilograms of cocaine following an April car crash in the city.

The April 16 crash occurred on Estevan Rd. behind the Co-Op gas station at Brooks Landing shopping centre when a vehicle rolled around 7:45 p.m.

The driver, later identified as 43-year-old Nicholas Francis Harris, left the scene after the crash but was tracked by witnesses and eventually police.

He was arrested for driving impaired under the influence of alcohol, but what he was holding in his hands left the police “gobsmacked”, according to Reserve Cst. Gary O’Brien.

“Once they found the individual, who was in the Brooks Landing parking lot, they found him holding two bricks of cocaine, which equates to about one kilogram of cocaine (each). It’s a significant amount of drugs.”

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The value of the drugs is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, as it’s normally cut with other chemicals such as fentanyl.

“We took so much cocaine off the streets and there’s thousands of uses. We know that drugs are tainted, and a lot of cocaine, even marijuana, can be tainted with fentanyl. So this was potentially saving hundreds of lives.”

A single charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking was recently approved by Crown Counsel against Harris.

O’Brien also praised the significant role the pedestrians played in this incident, staying on scene and keeping an eye on the driver until police arrived.

“They didn’t put themselves in harm’s way. They simply stayed on scene to allow our officers to go, they directed them to wear the person was, and we very efficiently and quickly took that person into custody before he had the chance to destroy the evidence, which he most likely would have tried to do.”

Court records showed he made an initial court appearance on June 21 and is scheduled back in court in early August.

Harris is currently not in custody.

His criminal record in the province is limited to a few traffic violations, court records showed.

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