Nearly two years after the RCMP busted Canada’s biggest fentanyl and meth superlab, no one has been charged with running it — and a U.S. official says the Mounties stonewalled American investigators.
The Bureau reported the allegations, citing an unnamed U.S. law enforcement official involved in the investigation.
According to the official, the DEA alerted the RCMP in late 2022 to precursor chemical shipments from China destined for Valerian Labs, a chemical importer in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
The DEA urged Canadian investigators to follow the leads but received a “hard no” that continued into 2023, the official alleged.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Valerian, an affiliated company, and its principal in Oct. 2023 as part of a China-based illicit drug precursor network. Valerian and its principal have denied wrongdoing or links to illicit fentanyl production.
Canadian investigators later began surveillance without informing the DEA, according to the official, eventually tracing the chemicals to B.C.’s Interior.
