MAN DIES AFTER ARREST FOR NARCOTICS

A Surrey man died during a drug bust after choking on a plastic bag
containing unknown substances.

The 22-year-old man, whose name has not been released, was arrested
along with another man in Whalley at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Surrey RCMP drug squad officers were investigating a residence on
Ravine Road for drug trafficking when they spotted a vehicle leaving
the place.

They stopped the driver near 106th Avenue and 132nd Street for driving
infractions and during this time found evidence of narcotics and
arrested the pair under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.

"One of the males went into medical distress shortly after being
handcuffed," Inspector Garry Begg said, adding that the fellow's
windpipe was blocked.

Police, firefighters and paramedics tried to save him.

"A plastic bag containing an unknown substance was recovered from the
airway of the individual by EHS," Begg said.

The man died in Surrey Memorial Hospital. Begg said police have yet to
determine what was in the bag.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is investigating, as
is usually the case with in-custody deaths.