The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Vancouver has confirmed it is assisting the RCMP in its investigation into the homicides of Squamish’s Dan Archbald, and Ryan Daley.
“DEA has 92 foreign offices in 70 countries, and we routinely assist and collaborate with our international law enforcement partners sharing critical intelligence information,” U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson Jodie Underwood told The Chief when asked why the DEA would be helping with a case in B.C..
The Star Metro Vancouver broke the news of the DEA’s involvement on July 6, which The Chief then confirmed with the U.S. justice department.
Archbald and Daley initially went missing May 16 after docking in Ucluelet on return May 13 from a two-month sailing trip to Panama.
On June 6, officers called the disappearance suspicious and handed the case to the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit.
It was announced that two bodies had been discovered in a wooded area near Ucluelet on June 18.
Ten days later the bodies were publicly identified as Archbald, 37 and Daley, 43 and the deaths were deemed homicides.
"Identifying Mr. Daley and Mr. Archbald is a significant step in this investigation,” Inspector Dave Hall, the officer in charge of the task force investigating the case said at the time.
“We can now focus our attention on answering the who, what, when, where and why, in an effort to determine who is responsible for their deaths."
Underwood referred any further questions from The Chief to the RCMP.
The Chief’s request for information sent to the Ucluelet RCMP earlier this week has not been answered.
However, the RCMP spoke to The Chief's sister paper, the Times Colonist.
B.C. RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Janelle Shoihet would not speak specifically to why the DEA is involved, according to the paper.
“At this point, we are not prepared to provide specifics with respect to the homicide investigation of Ryan Daley and Daniel Archbald, however I can assure you the investigation is a priority for the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) and remains active and ongoing,” Shoihet told the Times Colonist on Monday.
“More generally, I can tell you that in any investigation it is not uncommon for the police to engage/consult both international and domestic partners, in order to move the investigation forward.”
***Last updated July 10, 11:16 p.m. PDT.
