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BC RCMP team investigates drug ‘super lab’ in rural Abbotsford

Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response expected to be on scene for ‘several days’
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The BC RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team is on scene at a drug-making operation on Lefeuvre Road just north of Starr Road in northwest Abbotsford. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)

The BC RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response (CLEAR) team has been in a rural area of northwest Abbotsford since Friday (Jan. 14) conducting an investigation into the manufacturing of illicit drugs.

The team is set up at a property on Lefeuvre Road just north of Starr Road, not far from the Aldergrove border.

RCMP Sgt. Kris Clark, media officer with Federal Serious and Organized Crime, told The Abbotsford News on Tuesday (Jan. 18) that CLEAR will remain on scene “over the next several days.”

“(They will be there) until the scene is fully processed and remediated in order to mitigate further harm to the environment and risk to the public,” Clark said.

He said no further information is being released at this time, including the types of drugs involved or the size of the operation.

CLEAR vehicles and signage are located along Lefeuvre Road at the top of a long gravel driveway that leads to a heavily forested area.

ALSO SEE: Fire at drug lab near elementary school in Chilliwack

Satellite images of the property show several buildings tucked in behind the trees. The property cannot be seen from the road.

According to a webpage about CLEAR on the RCMP website, the team “specifically targets organized crime groups involved in the illicit production of any synthetic drug and investigates the diversion of chemicals or equipment intended to be used to manufacture illicit drugs.”

“The labs have been found in many different urban and rural settings, including homes, apartments, houses, barns, warehouses and even businesses,” the page states.

Among the drugs produced in the labs are methamphetamine and ecstasy. A large-scale, highly organized lab is described as a “super lab.”

Smaller makeshift operations are referred to as a “user lab.”

The webpage says these drug operations pose dangers to the community, including the release of toxic and corrosive gases and the risk of fires and explosion.

CLEAR covers all of B.C. and the Yukon.

ALSO SEE: Trio from Lower Mainland get 3 years jail time for Okanagan meth lab



vhopes@abbynews.com

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An ambulance is on scene as a precautionary measure as the BC RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team investigates a drug-making operation on Lefeuvre Road just north of Starr Road in northwest Abbotsford. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)
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The BC RCMP’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Response team is investigating a drug-making operation in a forested property (to the right of the photo) on Lefeuvre Road just north of Starr Road in northwest Abbotsford. (Vikki Hopes/Abbotsford News)


Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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