Warrant cancelled for man accused in $1.8M fentanyl bust

Article content

An arrest warrant for Brent Douglas Orr, one of two men charged following a substantial Regina drug bust, has been cancelled.

That’s according to court documents which state Orr showed up in Regina provincial court on Thursday after his failure to appear the previous day, resulting in the warrant.

Orr is obligated to attend court when required as a condition of his release.

Article content

Correspondence on the court file from prosecutor Brian Smith indicates that Orr reached out to the Crown on Wednesday, after the warrant was issued for his arrest.

With regard to the drug bust, Orr is charged alongside Christopher Ray Briltz.

According to Regina police, a vehicle search on March 1 resulted in officers seizing 4.5 kilograms of fentanyl, 850 grams of cocaine, 5.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, and one litre of gamma-hydroxybutyrate (commonly known as GHB), as well as more than $22,000 in cash.

Police estimated the street value of the fentanyl alone was approximately $1.8 million.

Orr and Briltz were aged 51 and 38, respectively, when each one was charged with multiple counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and a charge for possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime.

Following his arrest, the Crown was initially opposed to Orr’s release from custody. However, he was released on bail in mid-March after he agreed to post $3,000 and follow a list of strict conditions.

Article content

Article content

In addition to attending court when required to do so, his conditions include that he must: live at an approved address, comply with a 24-hour curfew and present himself for curfew checks, not consume alcohol or drugs that aren’t prescribed to him, not contact Briltz, not possess weapons, submit to searches for drugs or weapons, and not possess electronic devices other than one cell phone in his own name.

Orr’s failure to appear Wednesday was not the first time authorities believed he’d run afoul of his conditions. The court record indicates that he was charged for failing to comply with the curfew provisions of his release order on July 29.

Orr has been represented by multiple lawyers since he was initially charged in March, one of whom told court that talks were being held with the Crown to resolve the accused man’s matters.

However, that lawyer dropped the case at the end of July, and Orr has been granted multiple adjournments to provide time to find a new lawyer.

He is scheduled to appear again in provincial court next week, at which time Briltz’ matters will also be addressed.

Article content

Briltz is currently represented by Alberta law firm Chadi and Company. Lawyers from the firm have been appearing on his behalf.

bharder@postmedia.com

The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark leaderpost.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Article content