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Mission man caught with ‘bulk’ fentanyl and $102K is sentenced

Drug operation ran from Mission to Maple Ridge
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A file photo shows bags of illicit drugs seized by police. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration photo)

A Mission man who had “Mr. Cashman” emblazoned on his bed’s headboard has been sentenced for trafficking drugs that included a stash of “bulk fentanyl” in an operation that spanned west to Maple Ridge.

Scott William Cashman. 37, was handed a sentence of six years in the Supreme Court of B.C. in New Westminster after being convicted on seven counts of possession of controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking. Police also discovered a backpack containing $102,000 in cash under a pile of dirty clothes in a closet.

The convictions were based on the seizure of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, ketamine, codeine, hydromorphone, and morphine.

In all, more than 3.5 kg of fentanyl was seized and Judge Martha Devlin cited past case law describing the “unspeakable harm” caused by mixing fentanyl with other drugs. B.C. is on track to surpass 2,000 deaths from the toxic drug crisis for a second year in a row, according to the latest death tolls from the BC Coroners Service. A major reason is drugs being mixed with such substances as fentanyl.

The Crown was asking for nine years in prison, while Cashman’s lawyer lobbied for five to seven years.

“While Mr. Cashman was not the directing mind, he was a trusted associate … and engaged in the supply-level trafficking operation that distributed a variety of harmful controlled substances, including fentanyl, or ‘public enemy number one’,” wrote the judge.

On July 16, 2020, members of the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team assisted the Ridge Meadows RCMP to execute a search warrant at a residence shared by Cashman and another man, a two-story house located at 7419 Columbia St. in Mission. A second house in Maple Ridge was also raided at 12021 Garden St. Police had been watching Cashman and his associate between April 1 and July 16, 2020.

The Mission house was surrounded by CCTV cameras.

In total, the police seized from the Columbia Street residents 3.5 kilograms of fentanyl, 1.636 kilograms of methamphetamine, 284 grams of cocaine, 509 grams of ketamine, 844 codeine pills, 558 hydromorphone pills, and 40 morphine pills. The total value of the controlled substances was $524,930 at the wholesale level and $873,660 at the street level, according to the court ruling.

RELATED: Mission’s rate of toxic drug deaths skyrockets

The judge said that Cashman was a good candidate for rehabilitation, with strong family support, a history of steady employment and no issues involving drug dependency.

But the large amount of fentanyl seized by police was a major aggravating factor, the judge said.

“The devastating impact of these drugs on the community, particularly in the midst of a public health crisis, is an aggravating factor,” the judge wrote.


 

@shinebox44
chris.campbell@missioncityrecord.com

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Chris Campbell

About the Author: Chris Campbell

I joined the Victoria News hub as an editor in 2023, bringing with me over 30 years of experience from community newspapers in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley
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