A man caught in Nanaimo with an “enormous” amount of drugs and cash will spend four-and-a-half years in prison after credit for time served.
An “enormous amount of sadly too often fatal controlled substances,” as well as thousands of dollars, was found on Terrence Guy Richard Virus when he was arrested on Jan. 17, 2021, according to provincial court Judge Brian Harvey's ruling.
Virus was being arrested on an unrelated warrant related to drug trafficking when the RCMP officer noticed a piece of plastic in his jacket sleeve. He pulled on the plastic wrapping and found what was later identified as 5.87 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 18.38 grams of fentanyl powder.
Continuing the search, the officer found $135, a digital scale covered with a brownish residue, a black Samsung smartphone, a glass pipe with brownish residue and several tablets within Virus' hoodie.
Then, the officer lifted his shirt and noticed a very large bulge at Virus' belt. He found what was later identified as various 11.89 grams of crack cocaine, 123.8 grams of fentanyl powder, 29.56 grams of a substance identified as carfentanil and caffeine, and 29.31 grams of a substance identified as carfentanil, fentanyl and caffeine.
The discoveries didn't end there.
The officer noticed another waistband bulge as Virus left the cruiser at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment.
What was found there was identified as 1.6 grams of crack cocaine; 12.44 grams of a substance identified as heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, methamphetamine and caffeine; 3.96 grams of powder identified as fentanyl, carfentanil, methamphetamine and caffeine; 5.29 grams of a substance as heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, methamphetamine and caffeine; 29.87 grams of chunks identified as fentanyl, carfentanil, methamphetamine and caffeine.
Inside the man’s boxer shorts, police found 6.35 grams of chunks identified as fentanyl, carfentanil, methamphetamine and caffeine.
Virus claimed he was holding the drugs for a friend he did not name, saying he would be labelled a rat.
“At that point, he knew he was holding a large amount of drugs, which he concealed on his person for his friend anticipating something in return,” the judge said.
A more extensive search found $20,820, an unused small Ziploc bag containing hundreds of further dime bags, a second cellphone, a knife, a second scale for drug use, and drug use paraphernalia — including syringes, spoons and distilled water.
In total, police found 278 grams of drugs.
Virus pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl, possession for the purpose of trafficking in carfentanil, possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl, carfentanil and methamphetamine, as well as possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl and carfentanil.
“Possession of fentanyl and carfentanil for the purpose of trafficking, coupled with other substances such as methamphetamine no doubt has the ability to cause significant misery to anyone who comes in contact with such substances,” Harvey said.
“There is also no doubt in my mind that the moral culpability of this accused is still very high on the facts of this case. The accused knew he was in possession of high potency drugs,” Harvey said.
Harvey said he was "using every ounce of restraint" he could muster to arrive at the sentencing.
The defence had wanted time served while the Crown asked for seven years.
In the end, the sentence was six years on each count to be served concurrently. Virus will only spend four-and-a-half years in prison due to being credited 18 months for time in custody.
Harvey noted as an aggravating factor the fact that the accused would have known that B.C. has been in a public state of emergency because of the opioid epidemic since April 2016.
He also noted that Virus has had drug use issues and has had some recovery time. He told Virus he hoped he could use his prison time well to take counselling and other help.