A drug task force in Alberta dismantled an alleged fentanyl 'superlab' on Oct. 2, and a man from Kelowna is believed to have been the lead "cook."
The lab had likely been producing bulk quantities of drugs for several years, said the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) at a press conference on Nov. 8.
On the day the search warrant on the Valleyview, Alberta lab was executed, one man, 55 year-old Stephen Mogg, was arrested.
ALERT believes that Mogg was the "cook" of the industrial and highly sophisticated operation.
On Nov. 8, ALERT told the public that Mogg has been charged with production of a controlled substance and possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking. The Alberta RCMP say that Mogg is from Kelowna. According to court records, Mogg has no criminal record only faced two driving related charges from Kelowna and Penticton in 2004.
The drug task force said in a statement that the Valleyview superlab had likely been in continuous operation for at least two years, producing multiple kilograms of fentanyl with each cook cycle. Each cycle of fentanyl production took approximately one week to complete.
In addition to seizing 7kg worth of fentanyl, ALERT and the RCMP removed 4,200L of fentanyl precursor chemicals and 1,500L of chemical waste. The processed fentanyl seized has an estimated street value of $700,000 and 2 mg of fentanyl is considered to be a potentially lethal dose in an average person.
Industrial grade and highly specialized lab equipment, worth an estimated tens of thousands of dollars, was also seized and has since been destroyed.
The 'superlab' is likely connected to a larger international network of organized crime that is operating throughout Western Canada, said ALERT.
On Oct. 25, police executed search warrants at two locations in B.C. One search was conducted at a site in Surrey and the other at a "massive drug superlab" in Falkland.
“Following several months of investigative work into a transnational organized crime group involved in the production and distribution of massive quantities of drugs, federal policing investigators have dismantled the largest and most sophisticated drug superlab in Canadian history and seized a record numbers of illegal firearms, synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals,” said Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, commander of the RCMP federal policing program in the Pacific region, during a press conference about the Falkland drug lab at RCMP Divisional Headquarters, in Surrey.
ALERT’s investigation into the Alberta lab remains ongoing.
Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or report anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
With files from Anna Burns, Tom Zillich
