Punjabi man held as Canadian police bust British Columbia’s largest drug ‘super lab’

Canadian police have busted a major drug ‘superlab’ and a warehouse of sophisticated loaded weapons in Falkland, British Columbia, operated by a transnational organized crime group that trafficked sophisticated fentanyl and methamphetamine drug ‘superlabs’ in Canada.

Police have arrested a man from Punjab identified as Gaganpreet Randhawa.

Deputy Commissioner David Teboul, commander of the RCMP’s federal police program in the Pacific Region, said in a media bulletin that this enforcement action not only potentially saved more than 95 million lives, but also resulted in this transnational organized crime group’s estimated $485 million has been denied. of profit.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Federal Policing media bulletin states it seized 54kg of fentanyl, massive quantities of precursor chemicals, 390kg of methamphetamine, 35kg of cocaine, 15kg of MDMA and 6kg of cannabis.

Officials described the “superlab” as the largest and most advanced of its kind, with the ability to produce multiple types of illegal drugs.

Investigators seized a total of 89 firearms, including 45 pistols, 21 Ar-15-style rifles and submachine guns; many of which were loaded and ready to go. Nine of these weapons have been identified as stolen.

The searches also turned up small explosives, large quantities of ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armor and $500,000 in cash.

The police operation was part of proactive efforts to combat the domestic production and international export of fentanyl and methamphetamine. RCMP Federal Policing units in BC launched an investigation into a transnational organized crime group believed to be involved in the mass production and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine across Canada and internationally.

The RCMP release further noted that beginning Oct. 25, federal RCMP investigators conducted a series of coordinated enforcement actions in Metro Vancouver, executing search warrants at a major drug “superlab” in Falkland, B.C., and associated locations across the city Surrey. B.C.

During the course of the investigation, members of the RCMP Drugs and Organized Crime team were made aware of several large shipments of methamphetamine that had been prepared for shipment and intended for international export.

To prevent the export of these large drug shipments, federal investigators, with assistance from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), executed an additional series of search warrants and seized 310 kilograms of methamphetamine before it left Canada.

While the investigation is ongoing and one person has been arrested, federal police investigators have been able to link the criminal operation to a recent enforcement action conducted by the RCMP CLEAR team, in which 30 tonnes of precursor chemicals were seized from a rural property in Enderby. B.C. As a result, federal investigators with the RCMP are working to determine the source of the precursor chemicals associated with these enforcement actions.

Deputy Commissioner David Teboul said further investigations have so far resulted in the seizure of a very significant quantity (approximately 5,000 liters and more than 10 tonnes of powdered precursor chemicals) of unregulated and scheduled precursor chemicals, believed to be used for the production of Fentanyl and MDMA.

Of particular interest, he says, is the discovery of several tons of unregulated chemicals believed to be used for the production of P2P (phenyl-2-propanone); a planned Class A precursor essential for the production of crystal methamphetamine.

The production of methamphetamine using P2P has not yet occurred in Western Canada. The P2P production method has been the primary method used by Mexican cartels to produce methamphetamine for years.

The precursor chemicals, combined with the finished fentanyl products seized at this location, could have amounted to 95,500,000 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl; prevented from entering Canadian communities and abroad.

Police said in the press release that this meant the seized 95,500,000 million potentially lethal doses of Fentanyl could have claimed the life of every Canadian, at least twice over.