RCMP officers raided a rural property in the North Okanagan almost a month ago seizing more than 30,000 kilograms of chemicals used in the production of illicit synthetic drugs.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/RCMP
October 03, 2024 - 2:14 PM
RCMP officers raided a rural property in the North Okanagan almost a month ago seizing more than 30,000 kilograms of chemicals used in the production of illicit synthetic drugs.
Officers with the Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team, or CLEAR, executed a search warrant at a property in Enderby on Sept. 11, according to an RCMP media release issued, Oct. 3.
Along with the chemicals, officers recovered a Bobcat skid steer that has been stolen in Kelowna in 2021 and a vehicle registered to gangster Donald (Donnie) Bryce Lyons, a longtime member of the Independent Soldiers gang.
Lyons, 51, was shot and killed and he was found unresponsive in the driveway of a home on Princeton Summerland Road in Princeton in June.
Investigators figure the chemicals were being warehoused in Enderby and the organized criminals planned to ship them to “super labs” where they would be used to make hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine.
A Bobcat skid steer that had been stolen in Kelowna in 2021 was recovered during the raid in rural Enderby.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/RCMP
“This seizure represents the removal of millions of dollars of profit from the hands of organized crime and has prevented the production and distribution of large amounts of harmful and in some cases lethal illicit drugs into our communities,” RCMP Insp. Inspector Peter Koster said in the release.
Police said no charges have been laid. The media release doesn’t indicate if any arrests were made during the raid.
Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team is a specialized unit that conducts investigations focusing on the production of synthetic drugs, the diversion of chemical precursors and equipment from legitimate industry and operators of clandestine drug labs.
The officers also respond to and assist all police agencies along with other provincial and federal government agencies throughout BC and the Yukon with clandestine drug production related investigations.
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