Drug trafficking charges approved against DULF co-founders

Criminal charges have been approved against the co-founders of an unlicensed compassion club in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, police announced Friday.

Authorities said Jeremy Kalicum, 28, and Eris Nyx, 33, each face three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Kalicum and Nyx launched the Drug User Liberation Front, an organization with the stated goal of providing a safe supply to help combat B.C.'s ongoing overdose crisis, which has claimed more than 14,500 lives since April 2016.

The arrest of the DULF founders last October sparked community outrage, with hundreds of supporters gathering in the streets to protest police repression.

At the time, even Insp. Phil Heard of the Vancouver Police Department acknowledged that DULF had acted in an effort to reduce “the impacts of the toxic drug supply,” but said authorities nonetheless intended to enforce all laws which could be infringed.

“We have always warned that anyone who contravenes the Criminal Code or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act should expect legal action,” Heard told reporters at a news conference.

Agents began investigating DULF last year and executed search warrants at the organization's headquarters and two private residences in the fall.

A lawyer representing Kalicum and Nyx told CTV News shortly afterward that both men would contest any potential criminal charges stemming from their arrest.

“We know that the facts will show that denying access to a predictable, safe, non-toxic supply of drugs to people who depend on them violates their constitutional rights because it forces them to obtain these drugs on the streets, where their potency is high is extremely unknown, extremely unpredictable and unnecessarily endangers their lives,” said Stephanie Dickson.

Kalicum and Nyx are scheduled to appear in court in July.

With files from Isabella Zavarise of CTV News Vancouver