Calgary man charged with trafficking highly-potent fentanyl

A Calgary man faces charges related to drug trafficking after police found highly-potent fentanyl — estimated to be 10 to 15 times more pure than what’s typically sold at the street-level — in a vehicle they pulled over near Canmore, Alta. 

The Calgary Police Service’s guns and gangs unit identified a man who they believe was trafficking drugs in Calgary, which prompted police and RCMP to launch a traffic stop outside of Canmore in January, according to a police news release Friday.

Police said they searched the man’s vehicle and found 1,001 grams of powdered fentanyl, 4.5 grams of a green substance — later determined to be a mixture of fentanyl, benzodiazepine and caffeine  — and 11.1 grams of a Class A precursor, which is commonly used in the manufacturing of fentanyl.

Detectives sent the drugs for analysis and the powdered fentanyl was discovered to be highly potent, approximately 10 to 15 times more pure than what’s typically sold on the streets in Western Canada, Calgary police said.

“The fentanyl seized in this investigation had the potential to cause significant harm to our community and could have resulted in countless deaths,” said Staff Sgt. Greg Cooper of the guns and gangs unit.

“The fentanyl powder is some of the most potent that we’ve seized and had the ability to be worth $2.5 million to $4.1 million if cutting agents were used to dilute the drug to a level consistent with what’s being sold on the street. If pressed into pill form, the value would have been even higher.”

On Wednesday, officers executed a search warrant on a residence located on Rosery Drive N.W. and arrested one individual, police said.

Jonathan Joseph Sunstrum, 58, of Calgary, faces three counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possession of a precursor for use in the production of a controlled substance.

Police say they are still working to determine the potential origin and destination for these drugs. The investigation is ongoing.

Sunstrum is slated to appear in court May 10.