Precursors seized by B.C. RCMP could have produced 262 million lethal doses of fentanyl

Federal border agents and the B.C. RCMP have seized a “massive cache” of precursor chemicals that could have produced hundreds of millions of lethal doses of fentanyl.

The Mounties federal policing unit announced the seizure following a nearly two-year investigation by the RCMP federal serious and organized crime division after the chemicals were nabbed at the Canada-U.S. border.

Fifty-four boxes containing liquid gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) were intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency in April 2021. The chemical is listed as a Class A precursor in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Chemicals seized during followup raids across Metro Vancouver collected enough precursors to produce 262 million lethal doses of fentanyl and three million doses of MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

“With the use of advanced investigative tools and techniques … investigators were able to identify an individual believed to be associated to the GBL importation, in addition to the smuggling of other precursor chemicals into Canada,” said the B.C. RCMP in a news release on Thursday.