Law enforcement officials say police forces will need more federal resources to shut down Western Canada’s booming fentanyl super labs, after the country’s synthetic opioid epidemic was spotlighted by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump as a trade irritant.
“Pretty much all police associations across Canada are suffering from a lack of resources right now, and we’re certainly no exception,” said Inspector Angela Kemp of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), a joint force targeting organized crime that includes the RCMP and local police forces.
Kemp took part in the takedown of one such super lab in October in Valleyview, Alta., where officers seized seven kilograms of processed fentanyl and thousands of litres of suspected precursor chemicals.
Just one kilogram of fentanyl can yield up to 500,000 doses of the deadly synthetic opioid.
“When we look at the lab in Valleyview, those types of investigations are very resource-intensive,” said Kemp. “Everything from getting the required evidence to even obtaining a search warrant to find out what’s happening at the property takes quite a bit of time and manpower.”
Kemp said that 75 team members were engaged on the months-long operation, a joint effort of ALERT and the RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Response Team.
Investigators also confiscated more than $10,000 worth of specialized lab equipment from the site.
Highly sophisticated, high-volume labs like the one in Valleyview are believed to be supplying a growing portion of Canada’s domestic market for fentanyl and other synthetic street drugs, such as MDMA and crystal meth.The U.S. has intercepted some drugs being smuggled from Canada, and Trump recently said he would impose punishing tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he takes office in January if the countries don’t tighten up their borders when it comes to drug trafficking and illegal migrants. Mexico’s president has also accused Canada of allowing fentanyl to spread easily, alluding to experimentation with drug decriminalization policies in B.C. that were facilitated by the federal government.
The illegal drug production facilities integrate multiple stages of synthesis, starting with chemical precursors that are lightly regulated and unregulated.
Several of these precursors have legitimate industrial uses, making them hard for authorities to control.
Each so-called super lab is capable of processing a kilogram of more of fentanyl in a 24-hour period, say police.
Federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Monday that he was considering deploying additional drones and helicopters to intercept drugs at the Canada-U.S. border, but didn’t respond to National Post’s questions about efforts to shut down fentanyl super labs during a media scrum.
Kemp says she hopes the federal government will devote more resources to tackling the problem.
“We would welcome any assistance to have the ability to do more investigations more often, and have more organizations involved,” Kemp said.
Kemp also said she welcomes Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s recent idea of setting up a special fentanyl apprehension unit within the provincially controlled Alberta Sheriffs Branch.
“The more organizations that are involved in creating safer communities, the better,” Kemp said.
Canada’s in-house synthetic drug production ramped up in 2019, when China placed restrictions on exports of processed fentanyl, and took off further when COVID lockdowns interrupted the cross-border flow of goods in the early 2020s.
Large-scale fentanyl labs first sprung up in British Columbia, owing to its proximity to the Asia-Pacific region, but have since spread eastward to Alberta and Ontario. Ontario police busted one such lab, located just 50 kilometres away from the Niagara Falls border crossing, in the summer of 2023.
A facility in Falkland, B.C., thought to be Canada’s biggest and most sophisticated fentanyl super lab, was shut down by police in late October 2024.
China is still believed to be the primary source of the chemical precursors processed at these facilities.
Canadian-sourced fentanyl has been recently turning up in raids in the U.S., Australia and other foreign countries.
A briefing note prepared by Global Affairs Canada in June 2024 said that there is reason to believe “Canada is now a source (and transit) country for fentanyl to some markets.”
B.C. Conservative MLA and public safety critic Elenore Sturko said she’s concerned the federal government is putting fancy new hardware ahead of the personnel needed to investigate and shut down illicit labs.
“Things like drones and helicopters are certainly needed, but what’s being ignored is that we’re running a deficit of personnel, especially in B.C., and that’s being purposely done to save money,” said Sturko, a former police officer.
“There is no replacement for the human intelligence and investigative work done by officers who are trained to do that,” she said.
The B.C. branch of the RCMP reported a staffing shortage of some 700 officers in April. The Alberta RCMP likewise reported 124 unfilled officer positions in September.
Calvin Chrustie, a retired 32-year RCMP veteran who now works as a global risk consultant, said that transnational groups increasingly see Canada as a “low-risk, high-profit” place to manufacture fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
“We’re seeing an increase in productivity because they feel safe operating here,” Chrustie told the National Post.
“And superficial additions like drones and helicopters along the border aren’t going to make them feel any less safe,” said Chrustie. “What will, is giving police the tools to go after these people.”
Data from the past two fiscal years suggest that slightly more fentanyl is entering the U.S. from Canada than the other way around, although Canadian-sourced fentanyl still represents less than one per cent of all product arriving at the U.S. border.
National Post
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