Prince George RCMP continues investigation following drug overdose of teenager
By Contributor
Prince George RCMP said in a media release Tuesday that it is advising the public that the 16-year-old youth who was taken to hospital suffering from a drug overdose last week passed away over the weekend.
RCMP said this investigation is still ongoing and is a top priority for the Serious Crime Unit.
“Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of the young victim, in their time of tragedy and loss,” said Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, Media Relations Officer for the Prince George RCMP.
In an earlier media release, Prince George RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit said it began its investigation following drug-related overdose incident that occurred at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
Frontline police officers were called to a residence on the 7600-block of McMaster Crescent for a 16-year-old youth who was located there unconscious. The youth was transported to the hospital by emergency health services, where at the time was found to have high levels of fentanyl in her blood.
Though in B.C. adults are allowed to possess up to 2.5 grams of illicit substances for personal use and under certain conditions, the law is clear that this is not the case for our youth. Trafficking illicit substances (which includes selling, moving, delivering, distributing or sharing illicit substances) is an offence under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and there are potentially serious consequences for engaging in this activity.
When the actions of a drug trafficker result in a death these consequences can increase substantially,” said Sgt Whitehouse, Commander of the Prince George RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit.
In Prince George, all drug related deaths are investigated by the RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service,
In this case, we also recognize the exceedingly high expectation on police from the public when a youth appears to have been targeted by a fentanyl trafficker.
Police officers remained at the residence for the majority of the day while they executed a search warrant to help determine the circumstances around what occurred and if any criminality can be established.
