Two Metro Vancouver men charged after police find Canada's largest fentanyl lab

Shutterstock

After two men were charged in 2016 in connection with what police said is the largest fentanyl conversion laboratory discovered in Canada, sentences have now been handed down for the pair.

The men were arrested in March 2016 following a lengthy investigation that began in 2015 when Delta Police began looking into activities taking place in South Delta.

That blossomed into what police described as “an incredibly complex investigation,” as officers sought to collect evidence.

Police said the investigation was particularly noteworthy, as over $1.5 million dollars in cash, nine firearms, and large quantities of heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, methamphetamine and fentanyl were discovered during search warrants. W-18 was also found at the lab, the first time it was located in BC.

On June 29, Surrey resident Scott Pipping, 36, received a sentence of 15 years and Delta resident Adam Summers, 28, received a five-year sentence.

Pipping and Summers faced a combined total of 17 charges, including charges for trafficking in a controlled substance, possession for the purposes of trafficking, possession of restricted/prohibited firearms, and possession of restricted/prohibited firearms without a license. Both pled guilty to the charges.

“These are significant sentences and they reflect the scope and impact of this lab,” said Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord. “This was a massive lab, and a key part of the drug trade at the time in Metro Vancouver.”

Search warrants were executed at three locations in Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey, and evidence of drug trafficking was found at all locations.

In the Burnaby location, the police search revealed a large scale fentanyl laboratory where fentanyl was being combined with a cutting agent, coloured brown to replicate heroin, and washed in acetic acid to make it smell like heroin.

In addition to the cash and guns, police located 4.5 kg of heroin, 12 kg of cocaine, over 45,000 oxycodone/oxycontin pills, over 1 kg of methamphetamine, and 125 grams of pure fentanyl analog.

Dubord noted that an entire kitchen in a Burnaby apartment had been converted to process the fentanyl, as well.

“I’m very proud of the work of our officers in shutting this lab down, and have no doubt that many lives were saved as a result of their work,” he added.

See also