Two men charged in connection with the largest fentanyl conversion laboratory discovered in Canada were sentenced June 29 in court.
The investigation was particularly noteworthy, as over $1.5 million dollars in cash, 9 firearms and large quantities of heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, methamphetamine and furanyl fentanyl were discovered during search warrants. W-18 was also found at the lab, the first time it was located in BC.
The men were arrested in March 2016 following a lengthy investigation, and have been in custody since that time. In 2015 Delta Police began looking into activities taking place in South Delta. That blossomed into an incredibly complex investigation, as Delta Police sought to collect evidence. On June 29, 36-year-old Scott Pipping of Surrey, received a sentence of 15 years and 28-year-old Adam Summers, of Delta, received a five year sentence.
Pipping and Summers faced a combined total of 17 charges, including charges for trafficking in a controlled substance, possession for the purposes of trafficking, possession of restricted/prohibited firearms, and possession of restricted/prohibited firearms without a license. Both pled guilty to the charges.
“These are significant sentences and they reflect the scope and impact of this lab,” says Chief Neil Dubord, head of Delta Police. “This was a massive lab, and a key part of the drug trade at the time in Metro Vancouver.
An entire kitchen in a Burnaby apartment had been converted to process the fentanyl. I’m very proud of the work of our officers in shutting this lab down, and have no doubt that many lives were saved as a result of their work.”
Search warrants were executed at three locations in Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey, where evidence of drug trafficking was found at all locations. In the Burnaby location, the police search revealed a large scale fentanyl laboratory where fentanyl was being combined with a cutting agent, colored brown to replicate heroin and washed in acetic acid to make it smell like heroin.
In addition to the cash and guns police located 4.5 kg of heroin, 12 kg of cocaine, over 45,000 oxycodone/oxycontin pills, over 1 kg of methamphetamine, and 125 grams of pure fentanyl analog.
Delta Police were assisted in the investigation by Lower Mainland RCMP Emergency Response Team, the RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement and Recovery team, the Burnaby and Richmond RCMP detachments and the Burnaby Fire Department and HAZMAT team.
