British Columbia

Fentanyl equal to 2.5 million street doses seized at rural property in Mission, B.C.: police

Police say the clandestine drug lab was operating in a storage building and several shipping containers located on a rural acreage.

RCMP seizure included 25 kg of pure fentanyl and 3 kg of fentanyl already cut for sale

a cluttered and dirty room full of large chemistry equipment and buckets of substances
A photo submitted by police of the clandestine drug lab where they say a large quantity of fentanyl was discovered. (submitted by Mission RCMP)

Mission RCMP say they seized a huge quantity of fentanyl from a clandestine drug lab on an acreage in the rural Hatzic Valley in southwest British Columbia.

Approximately 25 kilograms of pure fentanyl was seized along with three kilograms of fentanyl already diluted for street distribution. 

Additional precursor materials used to manufacture the drug were also seized, including 2,000 litres of chemicals and 6,000 litres of hazardous chemical waste, according to an RCMP news release.

Police say the seizure represents over 2.5 million street doses of fentanyl. 

They said officers from Mission RCMP and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team were called to the property in the 12700-block of Stave Lake Road, around 10 kilometres northwest of downtown Mission, for reports of gunshots on Oct. 27. 

police vehicles parked near a wooded driveway
The fentanyl lab was discovered in the 12700-block of Stave Lake Road after police received reports of gunshots at the property. (submitted by Mission RCMP)

Shell casings were found at the scene but no one was found injured, police said.

After obtaining a search warrant, police say investigators found a fentanyl lab housed in a storage building and several shipping containers. 

No charges have yet been laid.

"We hope that the residents in the area of the lab will also feel safer knowing that this facility has been shut down," said Mission RCMP Insp. Ted Lewko. 

Mission is around 60 kilometres east of Vancouver.