Bylaw officers confiscated a shipment of around 1,000 masks that they allegedly arranged to buy from a Richmond man in a sting operation on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old student was given a $1,000 ticket for running a business without a licence. He told Global News he ordered the masks before rules outlawing the sale of medical supplies came into effect, and that he intended to distribute the masks at cost to his Facebook friends.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has called black market sales that capitalize on the COVID-19 crisis “absolutely unacceptable.” [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] “It’s reprehensible at a time like this that people try to take advantage of critical supplies,” he said.