'Diverted safe supply is being resold into our community': London police confirm drug diversion a growing concern

For the first time, London police are speaking out about the diversion of safe supply drugs happening in the city.

“Diverted safe supply is being resold into our community – its being trafficked into other communities, and it is being used as currency in exchange for fentanyl, fueling the drug trade,” said Chief Thai Truong

At a press conference inside London Police Service headquarters Monday, Truong was joined by the executive director of the London Intercommunity Health Centre (LIHC), which is one of several healthcare providers who prescribe controlled substances to the city's most vulnerable population.

"We take the diversion seriously at the health centre and have protocols to minimize the risk,” said Scott Courtice, the executive director of LIHC.

Courtice explained that those protocols include patients providing urine samples to ensure the medication they are being prescribed is in their system, and if there is any indication that diversion is happening, that person is removed from the program.

Between January and July of 2024, members of the London Police Service seized multiple guns, drugs, and cash, seen on July 15, 2024. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)

But despite those efforts, police revealed data that indicated the number safe supply prescription tablets seized has significantly increased in the last five years.

"So far in 2024 we've seized just over 12,000 hydromorphone tablets – the overwhelming majority of which…was in Dilaudid 8 milligram form,” explained Deputy Police Chief Paul Bastien.

The upwards trend in diversion is something mayor Josh Morgan says is, “evidence that clearly shows the status quo is not working.”

In a statement, Morgan said, “While this is not a municipal government program, I fully support an immediate, comprehensive, and full-scale review of existing protocol, and urge those who administer these programs to work closely with London police and the Middlesex-London Health Unit to develop a better path forward.”

Between January and July of 2024, members of the London Police Service seized multiple guns, drugs, and cash, seen on July 15, 2024. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)

Charges laid

Between January and July of 2024, members of the London Police Service seized multiple guns, drugs, and cash from the streets of London, Ont.

Since January of 2024, 21 search warrants were executed by the Guns and Gangs Section in London, with the following items seized as a result:

• 11,132 hydromorphone pills
• 2 kg of fentanyl
• 3 kg of methamphetamine
• 5 kg of cocaine
• 296 grams of crack cocaine
• 1,875 oxycodone pills
• 153 grams of carfentanyl
• Conductive energy weapon (CEW)
• 30 firearms
• Approximately $79,877 in cash

The seized drugs are estimated to have a street value of approximately $789,000.

A total of 50 people were charged resulting in a combined 247 charges.