Meth lab raid results in charges against 3 men
Charges have been laid against three West Kelowna men in connection with an RCMP raid of an alleged methamphetamine drug lab near the community of Rock Creek in B.C’s Southern Interior last year.
On March 1, 2017, RCMP executed a search warrant on a rural property, seizing a significant quantity of illicit drugs, numerous weapons and arresting two men.
The men were released from custody as the investigation continued. They were later arrested and charged along with a third suspect at the conclusion of the investigation.
“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has defined a clandestine lab as a ‘super lab’ when it is capable of producing five kilograms of finished product within a 24-hour period. The sophistication and size of this particular lab meets and exceeds this standard,” the RCMP said in a news release.
During the raid, police seized 20 kg of meth, 20-30 kg of meth in various stages of production, 75 kg of ephedrine tablets, which could produce 57 kg of meth, five longbarrel firearms and two handguns.
Dylan Frederick Crossland-Schmode, Jordan William Herron-Paugh and Dustin Gordon Paugh, all of West Kelowna, have each been charged with five drugrelated and firearms offences. The three men are scheduled to next appear in Grand Forks court on Oct. 16.
The Mounties reported seeing solvents and other hazardous materials being dumped into the soil near the community east of Osoyoos, possibly contaminating the local water table.
Stopping this lab from further production will have a positive impact on the environment. SGT. DEREK WESTWICK, RCMP
The property is undergoing remediation and monitoring by the Ministry of Environment.
“This lab was extremely large and complex. Stopping this lab from further production will have a positive impact on the environment,” said RCMP Sgt. Derek Westwick. “It will also have a positive impact in Western Canada by keeping these drugs off the street.”