Over 30,000 kg of chemicals destined for drug production seized in B.C.: RCMP

RCMP say they've seized more than 30,000 kilograms of chemicals from a rural property in B.C. that investigators believe were to be used in the production of methamphetamine.

An RCMP statement issued Thursday says the federal Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response Team (CLEAR) executed a search warrant on a property in Enderby, B.C., in the North Okanagan region, on Sept. 11 and found a Bobcat loader that was reported stolen in Kelowna in 2021, as well as the chemicals.

A vehicle registered to Donald Lyons was also located on the property, RCMP said in a statement. CBC reported in June that Lyons died in Princeton, B.C., in a targeted shooting. Court documents show Lyons was known to police for his association with the criminal organization the Independent Soldiers. 

No one was reported at the scene when RCMP arrived and they are still investigating potential leads, said Cpl. Arash Seyed. The property was a rental unit, Seyed says, and it is unknown who owns it.

"Thus far it seems like the location where the chemicals were being stored at, so it's kind of the first stage of the investigation," Seyed said. "It was just an old unit that seemed to have been rented previously but it was unoccupied." 

In a statement, RCMP said the amount of chemicals suggests they were destined for one or more "super labs" for the production of hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine.

The CLEAR team describes itself as a specialized unit that conducts investigations focusing on the production of synthetic drugs, the diversion of chemical precursors and equipment from legitimate industry and operators of clandestine drug labs.