Major B.C. drug ring busted: police
CBC News
Posted: May 25, 2011 5:43 PM PT
Last Updated: May 25, 2011 5:43 PM PT
Police Sgt. Shinder Kirk stands by weapons seized in raids on meth labs in Surrey, B.C., and the province's southern Interior. CBC B.C. police have smashed a major drug ring they say was operating so-called "super labs" to churn out methamphetamines and ecstasy at several locations, including Kamloops and Surrey.
Two men have been arrested as the result of the investigation by the organized crime division of the province's anti-gang squad.
The ring was making drugs and was also producing the equipment needed to set up eight more mobile drug labs, Supt. Pat Fogarty said.
"At the Surrey location, we found labs neatly packed and ready for shipment to other parts of British Columbia," Fogarty said.
Clues uncovered in the Surrey location led officers to Pritchard, north of Kamloops, where they found a secured compound, featuring guard dogs, an underground meth lab bunker and a house filled with loaded guns.
Grenade in baby's room
"In the baby's bedroom, on top of the firearms locker, [was] a grenade," said Fogarty. "We wouldn't even touch the grenade … We had to get the explosives unit to come down."
In addition to the drug-making equipment, chemicals and 32 firearms, police said they seized $1 million worth of stolen property.
Sgt. Shinder Kirk said the drug operation involved ties to several criminal groups, including Eastern European organized crime.
Kirk said the network was uncovered after Vancouver police began investigating the June 2007 disappearance of Ronald William Carlow, who is still missing. Investigators believe Carlow, who was 38 when he disappeared from downtown Vancouver, may have met with foul play.
With files from the CBC's Terry Donnelly and The Canadian PressShare Tools
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