Six people hit with charges over 2018 raid of huge drug lab in Lumby
Multiple narcotics charges have been laid against six people in connection with a 2018 bust of what the RCMP have described as one of B.C.'s largest illegal drug laboratories.
When police raided a property in Lumby on Oct. 19, 2018, they uncovered a massive clandestine lab that contained large quantities of drugs, chemicals and waste materials.
Five people were arrested at the time as the RCMP seized hundreds of litres of precursor chemicals used in the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Included in the haul were 58 kilograms of ephedrine HCl, 50 kilograms of solutions containing ephedrine HCl, 4.5 kilograms of methamphetamine HCl, 556 litres of solutions containing methamphetamine, 10 kilograms of 4- a nil in o-N-p hen ethyl piper idine( AN PP ),2.95 kilograms of the steroid nandrolone phenylpropionate (NPP), 660 grams of fentanyl and 124.7 litres of solutions containing both fentanyl and ANPP.
The RCMP's federal serious and organized crime unit said it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for the hazardous waste removal and disposal.
“In this instance, there was a very large amount of synthetic waste byproduct that had yet to be disposed which posed a significant risk to the local farms and residents living in the area,” said RCMP Supt. Bert Ferreira.
“Mitigating environmental contamination was one of the key factors in the timing of the warrant execution.”
Drug charges, both for possession and manufacturing, have now been laid against Michael McMorris, Robyn Bryson, Trent Fussi, Michael Harvey, Tyson Kopp and Michael Piggott.
McMorris, Harvey, Kopp and Piggott are scheduled to appear in Kelowna Law Courts on Oct. 27, while Bryson and Fussi remain at large with warrants issued for their arrest.