Late last week, a tandem investigation between the Sûreté du Québec and Boucherville Organized Crime Unit uncovered a clandestine fentanyl lab – the first of its kind in Quebec, SQ officials said.
The lab, located in Potton, in the Eastern Townships, was involved in both the production and encapsulation of Fentanyl-laced substances.
SQ spokesperson Ronald McInnes said the operation was making capsules that combined fentanyl with xanax.
"People can die when they take this drug, we don't want to have more drugs like this one," he said. "It's stronger than heroin and cocaine."
The raid comes as part of an investigation into organized crime and the production of synthetic drugs, which was launched by the SQ and local authorities in November.
Four other searches were conducted in the Longueuil, Boucherville and St-Roch-de-Richelieu sectors.
Up until now, the searches have led to the seizure of more than 400 kg of raw substances used in drug production, four grams of cannabis, a vial of liquid resembling GHB, a stun gun, 500$ in Canadian money, 13 signal jammers and two vehicles.
The lab was dismantled by 65 police officers, who will continue in their crusade to control synthetic drug circulation.
“Remember that these drugs are produced by amateurs who improvise, in unsanitary conditions, with chemicals that are explosive and harmful to health and the environment.” the SQ cautioned in a statement.
There has been a surge in fentanyl-related overdoses in Canada recently. Two weeks ago, up to 13 people died of overdoses of the drug within hours of each other in British Columbia.
Anyone with information relating to this kind of activity is urged to contact the Surete du Quebec information line anonymously at 1-800-659-4264.
