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SURREY — Federal police in British Columbia dismantled three drug labs last month in the Lower Mainland cities of Pitt Meadows, Mission and Langley, and one of two suspects arrested has an advanced degree in organic chemistry, the RCMP says.
Police displayed a table of drugs and lab equipment seized in the investigation at a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday.
Mounties said they arrested two suspects, but no charges have been laid as the investigation continues.
Police celebrated that the operation prevented “several million” doses of fentanyl from being made and distributed across the country.
“However, the discovery of commercial-grade chemistry equipment at all locations, in addition to the arrest of an individual who we suspect has a background in chemistry, points to disturbing trends of progressively enhanced scientific and technical expertise among transnational organized crime groups involved in the production and distribution of illicit drugs,” said Chief Supt. Stephen Lee.
Police said in a statement that they executed “numerous” search warrants in late March and found the three labs, which were equipped with sophisticated equipment that is also used in “academic and professional research facilities.”
Two of the labs are believed to have been used to produce fentanyl, but the purpose of the third lab remains “undetermined.”
Lee, the deputy regional commander of the RCMP federal policing program, said the investigation began in 2023 with a probe into the importation of precursor chemicals and lab equipment used to make fentanyl, MDMA and GHB.
Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said the drugs produced in the labs were not destined for the United States, but he couldn’t reveal how police came to determine that because the investigation is ongoing.
“There’s no evidence that they were destined for the U.S., to be abundantly clear,” he said.
Teboul said one of the facilities in the Langley suburb of Aldergrove was in a commercial building, and the lab in Pitt Meadows was in a building in “close proximity” to a residential neighbourhood.
He said the equipment seized from the labs has legitimate purposes as well, and can be sourced from companies in Canada and the United States. None of it was “illegal in itself.”
Teboul said there’s a “need for legislative reform” around how such equipment and precursor chemicals can be obtained, and there’s a “long list” of problematic chemicals.
“It’s a lot of the variations that emerge into the market,” he said. “One of the challenges is that when Health Canada regulates a chemical, there are more chemicals coming that are not regulated.”
He said more regulations could be part of a suite of solutions to make a “dent” in illicit drug production, “but we will not necessarily regulate our way out of this problem.”
Teboul said the two suspects have since been released, and the investigation could still take “weeks if not months” to conclude before it goes to Crown prosecutors for potential charges to be laid.
He said he couldn’t reveal much about the people arrested, but said they’re not associated with “one particular” organized crime group.
“They are independent organized criminals with lots of connections, both domestically and internationally, that precipitates their ability to put these operations together,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2025.
Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
