Bail hearing continues for sole suspect in historic fentanyl superlab raid

The bail hearing for Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, the only man charged in connection to what police described as “the largest drug and fentanyl superlab in Canadian history”.

Source: BC RCMP

The bail hearing for Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, the only man charged in connection to what police described as “the largest drug and fentanyl superlab in Canadian history,” continued today in Vancouver’s B.C. Supreme Court.

Justice Andrew Majawa is expected to render a decision soon after hearing arguments from both the prosecutor and Randhawa’s defence counsel during a judicial interim release hearing — more colloquially referred to as a bail hearing.

The contents of those arguments are covered by a standard Criminal Code publication ban on bail hearings, which are intended to protect the suspect’s right to a fair trial.

Section 517 bans are frequently applied during bail hearings — or what is formally referred to as a judicial interim release hearing — held to determine whether an accused person should be released from custody pending trial.

As previously reported by True North, Randhawa was originally arrested in Surrey, B.C. on October 25, 2024, after RCMP investigators executed a search warrant on what turned out to be a massive drug superlab in Falkland, a small community roughly five hours northeast of Vancouver.

While executing multiple search warrants, police dismantled what they described as “the largest and most sophisticated drug superlab” of its kind, seizing 54 kilograms of fentanyl, 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDMA, and six kilograms of cannabis, along with huge quantities of precursor chemicals.

In addition to the drug haul, another search warrant in B.C. uncovered 89 firearms, including 45 handguns, 21 rifles, and multiple submachine guns, many of which were loaded and ready for use.

Since Randhawa’s arrest and the highly publicized RCMP press conference unveiling what Mounties found in Falkland, B.C., there have been no updates from police or investigators on other potential suspects, with Randhawa remaining the only individual publicly linked to the bust.

Many have expressed shock and disbelief that such a large bust would result in the arrest of only one individual. However, further arrests have already been ruled out — suggestively at least — by RCMP Corp. Arash Seyed, a spokesperson for the federal serious and organized crime unit that led the superlab investigation.

“These files are very complicated and to get charges you have to conduct investigations, which take time, and – because you’re dealing with transnational organized crime groups involving many, many people – the moment you charge the first person it’s unlikely you’re going to get charges on the others,” said Seyed.

The owner of the Falkland, B.C. property where the drug bust was conducted, Michael Driehuyzen, has been tangentially linked to the case but not yet been officially accused of any criminal activity by police.

A notice of civil claim filed by the province's Civil Forfeiture Office in B.C.’s Supreme Court alleges that Driehuyzen either "knew or should have known" about the alleged illegal activity.

The civil claim goes on to argue that even if Driehuyzen was not aware of the massive fentanyl superlab, he was "willfully blind or reckless to the manner in which the property was used and is likely to be used in the future."

Further, the claim states that the property had in 2015 and 2016 been searched by police as the site of an illegal cannabis grow operation and that Driehuyzen was also the owner of the property at that time.

However, Driehuyzen's response to the lawsuit says that he purchased the property using the money he makes as an electrician and that “no portion of the property represents proceeds of crime.”

In his response, property owner Michael Driehuyzen denies any knowledge or responsibility for wrongdoing and instead places the blame on "his tenant or his tenant's agents."

The forfeiture office also named Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa as a defendant in the case.