Numerous B.C. fentanyl production labs have been dismantled and a chemist has been arrested, the Pacific Region RCMP federal policing program confirmed on Thursday. The chemist told police they have an advanced degree in organic chemistry.
A second person was also arrested.
Between March 26 and 29, RCMP Federal Policing investigators, with assistance from local RCMP detachments and other units, executed numerous search warrants in Pitt Meadows, Mission, Aldergrove, Langley, and Richmond.
Police said these searches led to the discovery of three separate illicit fentanyl production labs and the two people who were arrested at one of the locations.
The fentanyl production labs located in the cities of Pitt Meadows, Mission, and Aldergrove were equipped with specialized chemical processing equipment often found in academic and professional research facilities, police confirmed at a press conference on Thursday.
“This enforcement action is an example of how we counter fentanyl production at its source, and continue to aggressively combat organized crime groups that are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in their scientific, and technical abilities,” Ass. Comm. David Teboul, Commander of the Federal Policing program in the Pacific Region said.
“The RCMP continues to disrupt the production of fentanyl that is impacting Canadian communities. There continues to be no evidence, in this case and others, that these labs are producing fentanyl for exportation into the United States.”
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
Last October, RCMP federal investigators said they had dismantled the largest drug superlab in Canadian history.
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Numerous enforcement actions and search warrants related to the drug superlab were executed in Falkland, B.C., and other locations in Surrey.
“As a result, investigators seized approximately half a tonne of hard drugs, including … 55 kilograms of fentanyl, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDM, and six kilograms of cannabis,” Teboul said at the press conference last year.
Last month, amid claims by U.S. President Donald Trump of “massive” amounts of fentanyl coming from Canada, the country was notably absent from a report on America’s biggest threats.
The report, released last month, said fentanyl is one of the most lethal drugs trafficked into the U.S. and the cartels that traffic the drug are “largely responsible” for more than 52,000 deaths in the country from synthetic opioids.
It goes on to note that Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations, such as the Sinaloa Cartel, are the dominant producers and suppliers of illicit drugs, while China remains the primary source country for the chemicals to make fentanyl and pill-pressing equipment, followed by India.
The statements, however, appear to contradict Trump’s own statements about fentanyl that he’s used as justification for imposing tariffs on Canada.
More to come.
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