An alleged fentanyl superlab operating outside Valleyview has been shut down. The operation is said to have regularly produced large amounts of fentanyl for years and was a significant source of fentanyl in the province and Western Canada.
ALERT, along with the RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Response Team (CLEAR), executed a search warrant at the rural lab location on October 2. Four days were spent searching the property and dismantling the highly sophisticated lab.
As result of the search, ALERT seized the following from the superlab: 7 kilograms of processed fentanyl; 4,200 liters of suspected fentanyl precursor chemicals; and 1,500 liters of chemical waste used in production.
Industrial grade and highly specialized lab equipment, worth an estimated tens of thousands of dollars, was also seized and since destroyed. The lab equipment included rotary evaporators, large reaction vessels, chillers, industrial mixers, and numerous beakers, flasks, and scales.
The processed fentanyl seized has an estimated street value of $700,000. With 2 mg of fentanyl considered to be a potentially lethal dose, one kilogram of fentanyl has the theoretical yield of 500,000 fatal doses.
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