VICTORIA — RCMP say the cleanup of an illicit drug-production superlab in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley cost hundreds of thousands of dollars after the initial bust where 40 kilograms of fentanyl and its analogs were discovered along with 5,000 kilograms of chemicals used to make more drugs.
Police in Chilliwack arrested two men last October, but they say the dangers of dismantling the lab and analysis of the drugs took a significant amount of time.
Specialized resources, including Health Canada chemists and the RCMP’s clandestine lab enforcement team, were brought in to make sure investigators and the neighbouring public were safe when the drugs and chemicals were removed.
In addition to the fentanyl, several other illicit drugs were also collected, including kilos of MDMA and methamphetamine.
The latest seizure is similar to one of the biggest drug production busts in Canada, when 54 kilograms of fentanyl or its analogs were uncovered in an October 2024 raid of what RCMP said was “a massive drug superlab” in Falkland, B.C.
A year-end report from Canada’s Fentanyl Czar Kevin Brosseau says more than 550 kilograms of fentanyl and analogs were seized countrywide last year.
Police arrested 35-year-old Justin Fauth and 37-year-old Carlos Martinez in connection with the latest seizures on Oct. 3, 2025 and both remain in custody and before the courts.
Investigators say in a linked chain of events they also seized another 50 kilograms of fluorofentanyl last November, which is believed to have originated from the Chilliwack drug lab.
Upper Fraser Valley RCMP say the “safe handling, dismantling, and analysis of the substances and equipment seized” took “a significant amount of time” because of the lab’s “inherent dangers.”
Supt. Darren Pankratz, commanding officer of the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP, says the cleaning of the lab was complex and hazardous.
“Investigations like this demonstrate our ongoing commitment to targeting those responsible and working with our partners to reduce the presence of dangerous drugs in Chilliwack,” he says. “Public safety remains at the forefront of everything we do.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.
Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
