Canadian authorities have dismantled what they described as the country’s largest drug laboratory, hidden in a rural part of British Columbia, seizing enough chemicals and other material to produce roughly 96 million doses of fentanyl, the country’s leading cause of overdose deaths.
For the first time in Canada, the police also found evidence of a drug production method used primarily by Mexican cartels to make opioids. The process requires a particular precursor chemical, and is often used to mass produce a potent synthetic drug known as “super meth.”
The discovery, experts say, suggests that Canadian drug dealers might be taking lessons from the cartels or that Mexican criminal groups might be operating in the country. Canadian authorities would not elaborate on potential links and said that the investigation that uncovered the drug lab was continuing.
“Our enforcement actions have dealt a decisive blow to transnational organized crime,” said David Teboul, an assistant commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the federal police force that led the investigation.
Despite the size of the operation, only one person has been charged so far in the case, and the authorities offered few details about him.
The raid offers a window into Canada’s position in the global drug trade as the authorities place an emphasis on intercepting chemical precursors illegally imported into the country, mostly from China.
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