Four people have been arrested following a raid on what RCMP officials are calling one of the largest ecstacy labs ever discovered in British Columbia.
"This is a great success story," said RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound, Federal Media Relations officer.
Kelowna RCMP, assisted by Federal and Provincial RCMP units, shut down the labs that were involved in the fabrication and distribution of the drug during a raid Wednesday. Found were about 3 1/2 kilograms of ecstacy and more than $85,000 in cash. The investigation involved two locations in Kelowna and one in Westbridge.
The culmination of a longterm investigation, the Kelowna RCMP executed a search warrant on a residence in Westbridge, catching several occupants on site allegedly in the act of producing ecstacy and in possession of ingredients used in the drug.
Officers also conducted a search in a Kelowna storage locker, where they located chemical ingredients used to make ecstacy and more ingredients in its production. A third search was staged in a private residence on Chute Lake Road in Kelowna, where most of the business was conducted.
The investigation was conducted by several Kelowna RCMP plainclothes units, the Criminal Intelligence Section and members of the Southeast District Boundary Region RCMP.
Pound said a conservative estimate in terms of production is that the ecstacy discovered would be used to produce between 40,000 and 200,000 tablets at between $5 to $7 a tab.
Ryan Patrick Novy, 32; Alesya Efimenko, 29; William Charles Forrest, 24; and Bradley Fraser Garth, 39, have been charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and production of a controlled substance. RCMP officials said more arrests are possible.
Pound said it's unknown how long the drug production had been operating.
The E Division Clandestine Lab Enforcement and Response team went to the first two sites and dismantled the operations.
John Sleeper
jsleeper@infotelnews.ca
250-718-0428
RCMP investigators on the scene of a super lab take down.
((SOURCE: RCMP) / iNFOnews.ca)
Kelowna RCMP assisted by the Federal and Provincial RCMP units shut down a clandestine 'super lab" last week after a long term investigation, said RCMP Media Relations Officer Kris Clark in a news conference today.