Massive drug cooking operation found by police in Lumby, B.C.

LUMBY, B.C. – Charges have been laid against six men after provincial and federal police uncovered what they say was one of the largest illicit drug laboratories ever found in British Columbia.

RCMP say in a news release that in October 2018, officers with a search warrant entered a property in Lumby, in B.C.’s north Okanagan, and found a massive synthetic drug production operation.

Police say a large quantity of methamphetamine and fentanyl was seized, along with hundreds of litres of chemicals and a significant amount of waste material.

The release says the waste can contaminate the environment and cause great health risks to the public.

It says specialized hazardous waste removal and disposal required in the case cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Five men from B.C. and an Alberta man face several counts of unlawfully possessing chemicals, trafficking and production of a controlled substance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2020.