Prolific offender guilty of fentanyl trafficking following significant south Nanaimo bust

While Lussier had moved out a few months prior to the Nov. 20, 2020 bust, Chang stated he returned daily to cut fentanyl with caffeine for personal use and sale.

Lussier was arrested the afternoon prior to the raid, meaning the fentanyl in the living room surrounded by drug paraphernalia, including a scale with one of Chang’s credit cards on it, remained there for at least 16 hours.

“No drug dealer in his right mind would leave inventory of this value, or any value, unattended in a house full of fentanyl addicts,” justice Baird said.

Evidence presented at trial indicated the fentanyl in question could have produced returns of over $90,000.

Police swarming the home in full combat gear flowed from jailhouse phone calls about drug trafficking, including conversations between mid-June and mid-August 2020 from an inmate and Chang about drug deals in the Nanaimo area.

The manager of intelligence at Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre in Saanich informed Nanaimo RCMP about the recorded calls, which included Chang confirming he was dealing fentanyl from the Twelfth St. house to street level dealers.

“Mr. Chang said in one of the phone calls that this was how we was conducting his business now, dealing in larger quantities, most of it to out-of-town buyers and quote ‘staying out of the limelight,’” justice Baird said during his half-hour ruling.

The trial was told fentanyl at the home was provided by Kien (Kenny) Pham, who was sentenced to 15 years behind bars by justice Baird in early March for trafficking offences.

Testimony at trial from Chang and his wife attempted to distance the accused from the highly addictive, dangerous opioid found in the living room during the 7 a.m. raid.

Chang was involved in a serious single-vehicle crash about three-and-a-half months before the drug bust, resulting in a broken neck, back and sternum, among other injuries.

He testified that he turned to large amounts of fentanyl to manage immense pain from the crash after checking himself out of hospital and returning home more than three months prior to the raid.

Chang’s defence team contended that he abandoned dealing fentanyl after the crash due to physical incapacity.

“I find as a fact that the ERT interrupted Mr. Chang not while he was preparing his wife’s breakfast, but while he was preparing a substantial load of fentanyl for use and retail by himself and others,” justice Baird said, who found Chang had a controlling presence in the home.

A dejected Chang muttered “bullsh*t” upon formally hearing his conviction.

Sentencing arguments and a judgment to determine Chang’s punishment will proceed at future undetermined dates.

Chang pleaded guilty to simple possession of crystal meth and GHB in relation to the Twelfth St. bust.

Court was told Chang has not breached any release conditions and remains free on bail.

He has a lengthy criminal record with 35 convictions, including offences involving drugs, property crimes and violence.

Just last week Chang, the father of murdered Nanaimo teen Makayla Chang, avoided further jail beyond 30 days in lock-up for possessing 24 grams of fentanyl, nearly nine grams of meth and about $20,000 during a 2021 traffic stop.

Chang also faces a drug trafficking charge linked to an alleged dark web scheme culminating from police raids in Nanaimo in 2020, resulting in formal charges in 2022.

Gordon Brooks and Kien (Kenny) Pham face multiple charges for their alleged roles in connection to an extensive investigation by the provincial RCMP Federal Serious and Organized Crime unit.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Prolific offender guilty of fentanyl trafficking following significant south Nanaimo bust

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