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New B.C. program to 'track and trace' origins of illicit drug supply

   CBC News | Posted: April 17, 2026 5:03 PM | Last Updated: Just
   now

   Tech could help police identify whether drugs from different
   areas are coming from same source, officials say

   Image | Track and Trace Illicit Drugs Crime robotics ai UBC

   Caption: A robot is pictured analyzing and deconstructing
   illicit drugs and using AI technology, as part of a new pilot
   project to better track and trace drugs in B.C., on Friday,
   April 17. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
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   B.C. officials have announced a new "track and trace" pilot
   program using technology they say can reveal patterns about the
   geographic origins and patterns of the illicit drug supply.
   The technology could allow police to identify whether drugs
   appearing in different regions are coming from the same source.
   Officials say it could share, across jurisdictions, how waves
   of additives in the drug supply are moving across the country.
   The program will use lab robotics, gather information from
   drugs seized by police and provide an "artificial
   intelligence-assisted dashboard for law enforcement to map and
   track dangerous drugs in B.C.," according to a provincial news
   release.
   "By combining chemical analysis with a growing data platform,
   we can begin to reconstruct production methods and anticipate
   how harmful supply is evolving across communities," said Public
   Safety Minister Nina Krieger at a news conference Friday.
   "This intelligence will help law enforcement determine where
   the greatest harms originate."
   She said the program will not track individuals or criminalize
   people who use drugs.
   "It is focused on understanding and disrupting the supply of
   the most dangerous drugs in the illicit supply and using those
   samples that are not being used for criminal prosecutions to
   provide police valuable intelligence and to protect the
   public."
   Chief Const. Fiona Wilson of the Victoria Police Department
   compared the technology to the advent of DNA and said it has
   the potential to be the most significant advancement in drug
   intelligence and public health in her almost 30 years of
   policing.

   Image | Track and Trace Illicit Drugs Crime robotics ai UBC

   Caption: Victoria Police Department Chief Const. Fiona Wilson
   says a new 'track and trace' pilot program will allow police to
   identify drug risks much sooner. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
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   "One of the biggest challenges today is that we can seize
   drugs, but we can't easily connect them," Wilson said.
   "We can't reliably determine whether drugs found in different
   communities come from the same source, and we often cannot link
   overdose trends to changes in supply quickly enough."
   But the pilot will change that, according to Wilson, and allow
   health officials to create earlier warning systems to alert
   people to increased drug dangers in their area.
   The first phase of the two-year pilot will focus on
   understanding what is circulating in the illicit drug supply.
   The province said early reports from 2026 show a surge in new
   toxic additives showing up in the drug supply.
   Recent contaminants do not always respond to naloxone, which
   increases the lethality of overdoses as well as the risk of
   permanent injury, according to the province.
   The province will invest $300,000 annually from its gun and
   gang violence action fund to support the pilot program by Aidos
   Innovations over the next two years.
   Aidos Innovations is a non-profit science institute developed
   in collaboration with the University of British Columbia.
   The pilot is a partnership including the province, various B.C.
   police forces, UBC and the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.

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