An Indo-Canadian man has been the only person charged in a $500 million super drug lab busted by Canadian police in BC last week which is believed to have the large drug cartels behind it. The lab produced deadly drugs that could kill every Canadian twice over. Investigators arrested Gaganpreet Randhawa in connection with the drug lab and the properties in Surrey. Randhawa is “considered the main suspect” and is currently in custody facing multiple drug and weapons charges, according to police. Randhawa is scheduled to appear in Surrey provincial court on Nov. 14.

By DESIBUZZCanada Staff With News Files

SURREY – An Indo-Canadian man has been the only person charged in a $500 million super drug lab busted by Canadian police in BC last week which is believed to have the large drug cartels behind it. The lab produced deadly drugs that could kill every Canadian twice over.

Investigators arrested Gaganpreet Randhawa in connection with the drug lab and the properties in Surrey. Randhawa is “considered the main suspect” and is currently in custody facing multiple drug and weapons charges, according to police.

Randhawa is scheduled to appear in Surrey provincial court on Nov. 14.

“As you know, Mexican cartels don’t have their headquarters in Canada, so they’re at times out of reach of Canadian law enforcement,” David Teboul, an assistant commissioner with the federal RCMP in the Pacific region, said when asked why more suspects had not been taken into custody in the case.

“I think it’s time for our justice system to catch up to the reality of the danger of these drugs,” the assistant commissioner said, adding authorities in Mexico are not currently involved in the investigation.

Mounties in British Columbia discovered the “largest and most sophisticated” drug-production laboratory in Canadian history, federal investigators announced last Thursday, describing the facility as a “super lab” operated by international organized criminals.

The facility, located east of Kamloops in the rural community of Falkland, was capable of producing several kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl and MDMA per week, Teboul announced at a news conference in Surrey.

“The precursor chemicals, in combination with the finished fentanyl products seized at this location, could have amounted to 95 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have been prevented from entering Canadian communities and markets abroad,” Teboul said.

The precursor chemical, along with the fentanyl finished product, could have amounted to 95 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have now been prevented from entering Canadian markets at home and abroad, Teboul said.

Teboul added that the amount of potentially lethal doses of fentanyl “could have taken the lives of every Canadian at least twice over.”

He said the crime group could have received more than $485 million in profits.

Investigators conducted coordinated raids on the Falkland property and several associated properties in Surrey on Oct. 25, seizing an estimated 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 54 kilograms of fentanyl, 35 kilograms of cocaine and 15 kilograms of MDMA, police said.

A .50-calibre machine gun was among the 89 firearms investigators also recovered from the Surrey properties, along with 45 handguns, 21 AR-15-style rifles and submachine guns, “many of which were loaded and ready for use,” Teboul said.

Authorities believe the drug lab was connected to the recent seizure(opens in a new tab) of more than 30 tonnes of methamphetamine precursors seized earlier this month in Enderby, just 40 kilometres east of Falkland.

No charges have been laid in that seizure, but police said the chemicals were likely destined for one or more super labs capable of creating hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine.

The RCMP were reluctant to blame any one organized crime group – whether Mexican cartels or domestic motorcycle gangs – for the lab’s operation Thursday.

“This is transnational organized crime, and the allegiances within transnational organized criminals are very fluid,” Teboul said. “This is all about making money. These are individuals that operate by way of convenience and opportunities, and they’re not necessarily associated to one particular group that wears funny patches on their backs or these kinds of things.

“Manufacturing methamphetamine using P2P has not been seen in Western Canada until now and the P2P manufacturing method has been the primary method used by Mexican cartels to produce methamphetamine for years.”