Man charged in historic superlab drug bust makes second court appearance

Source: X/Twitter

Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, the lone person charged in connection with a massive drug “superlab bust” in Falkland, B.C. last fall, made his second court appearance on Monday.

He was arrested on Oct. 25, 2024 after RCMP investigators executed search warrants on what turned out to be a massive drug superlab in Falkland, as well as other locations in Surrey. The raids were part of a series of coordinated actions across the Metro Vancouver and North Okanagan regions.

While executing those 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, investigators confiscated 89 firearms, including 45 handguns, 21 rifles, and multiple submachine guns, many of which were loaded and ready for use. Officials have identified nine of these firearms as stolen.

The searches further uncovered small explosive devices, large stockpiles of ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armour, and $500,000 in cash.

This isn’t Randhawa’s first run-in with the law. In 2016 he was convicted in Burnaby for dial-a-dope trafficking. During sentencing he told the judge he tried to leave the drug business but was threatened with death by his “bosses,” who went unnamed.

Following the raids, B.C.’s director of forfeitures filed a claim against the property where the lab was found, along with industrial equipment allegedly used for illicit drug production.

The claim named two defendants: property owner Michael Driehuyzen and Randhawa.

Driehuyzen bought the 163-acre property on Hoath Road in May 2007 for $655,000, based on Land Title and B.C. Assessment documents.

The filing alleges the property was used between January and October 2024 for producing, storing, and processing controlled substances intended for illegal trafficking. It also states police previously executed search warrants in 2015 and 2016, uncovering an “unlawful cannabis grow operation.”

The civil forfeiture action proceeds independently of any criminal charges, and no criminality has been proven in court.

Randhawa’s bail hearing is expected to continue on February 21.