Article content

Police fear a growing amount of buffing agent being seized in drug busts means more high-level dealers are bringing wholesale quantities into Edmonton for redistribution, creating another avenue for profit.

The Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement (EDGE) unit seized more buffing agent in 2016 — 82.05 kg — than all cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine combined. A single EDGE investigation in January yielded more than 150 kg of phenacetin known on the street as “superbuff,” enough to fill four large barrels and potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Gang unit warns of surge in cancer-causing buffing agent Back to video

“Cocaine traffickers need the buffing agent to make money, and selling illegal drugs is about making money. It’s just one part of the puzzle,” said EDGE Staff Sgt. Kevin Berge.

Buffing agents are used by drug dealers to dilute illicit drugs to increase profits.

“I could take my one kilo of cocaine and make two from it, thus increasing my end profit,” said Berge.