Edmonton’s organized crime and gang team has shut down a suspected fentanyl production lab operating out of a home in the Silver Berry neighbourhood in the city’s southeast.
Following an eight-month investigation, ALERT investigators, along with Edmonton Police Service’s Clandestine Lab Team, executed a search warrant on August 8, where they found a lab that was producing fentanyl to look like heroin.
“We have seen street-level dealers passing off fentanyl as other drugs before, but this is one of the first times we’ve encountered a production lab specifically set up to produce fentanyl that would be sold under such false pretenses,” Insp. Marc Cochlin, the officer in charge of ALERT’s Edmonton teams, said in a news release.
According to ALERT, more than two kilograms of processed fentanyl was seized. If sold as heroin, the drugs have an estimated value of $800,000.
“It’s alarming to see producers harboring such a blatant disregard for the safety of their consumers and for the safety of the community as a whole,” Cochlin said.
Also found in the home were 500 grams of fentanyl powder, five kilograms of a buffing agent and $900 cash, police said. Investigators also seized a 2011 Mercedes-Benz sedan.
Dylan Vande Gutche, 21, and Robert Burke, 18, have each been charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purposes of trafficking, and possession of proceeds of crime. Police said more charges are expected to be laid.
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Alberta Health Services issued an order on August 9 stating a home on 33A Street near 26 Avenue, in the Silver Berry neighbourhood, was unfit for human habitation.
“Based on information received from the Edmonton Police Service, the premises was being used as a clandestine drug production and manufacturing for suspected fentanyl production/processing and it is likely that some of this substance was tracked and/or involuntarily dispersed throughout the housing premises,” read the Alberta Health Services (AHS) order.
On Thursday morning, fencing surrounded the home with tape, alerting the public of a biohazard scene.
Neighbours in the area told Global News that it’s concerning to hear a home was being used as a drug production lab.
“We’ve got young kids all over the place here,” said Manav Gulati, a neighbour who lives nearby.
“So it’s really, really dangerous for those young kids.”
Erica Schoen, who oversees supervised consumption sites in Edmonton, said she’s not surprised to learn fentanyl was being disguised as heroin. She said anytime staff members see heroin, they assume it’s fentanyl.
“We see this time and time again,” Schoen said. “We make the assumption. We call it heroin in the service. And if people are injecting heroin, we’re very prepared to respond to an overdose.”
Schoen said this highlights the importance of providing legal and safe options for drug users.
“I think this stresses the case for decriminalization of drugs and just for all of this to be treated as the public health crisis that it is.”
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