BURST
The only person charged after an RCMP investigation uncovered Canada’s largest fentanyl and methamphetamine lab pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to smuggle 310 kilos of meth to the Philippines.
Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa admitted that he made several trips to a Richmond shipping company called Manila Cargo Express with boxes full of meth destined for Southeast Asia in September and October 2024.
And Randhawa also admitted he possessed not only meth, but fentanyl, carfentanil, cocaine and MDMA in his vehicle, as well as at a Surrey stash site that he used.
Randhawa, who had an earlier drug trafficking conviction from 2017, also agreed that he possessed a prohibited semi-automatic Glock and ammunition while he was under a lifetime firearms prohibition.
There was no mention in the agreed statement of facts read by federal prosecutor Xiaoshan Zheng of the record-setting superlab in Falkland that was dismantled by the RCMP’s specialized team after it was found in October 2024.
Randhawa’s arrest on Oct. 25, 2024, was linked to the Falkland investigation by the RCMP at the time.
Sources told Postmedia News that the lab had been set up by the Wolfpack gang alliance and had links to imprisoned gangster James Riach, who is serving a life sentence in the Philippines for drug trafficking.
Zheng told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Murray that the RCMP’s federal and serious organized crime section targeted Randhawa in an investigation that began in April 2024.
Upon Randhawa’s arrest, police searched several locations that he was connected to — including Manila Cargo Express on No. 5 Road, a U-Haul locker he rented on 56th Avenue in Surrey, his stash house on 127A Street in Surrey and his apartment at 10603-148th St., as well as his Kia Sorrento.
“Mr. Randhawa admits that between Sept. 23, 2024, and Oct. 23, 2024, he attempted to export 310 kilograms of methamphetamine (31 boxes containing 10 kilograms of methamphetamine each) to the Philippines,” Zheng said. “On Oct. 11, 16 and 22, 2024, police observed Mr. Randhawa transporting 12 boxes total — four boxes per day — from the stash site to Manila Cargo for shipments to the Philippines. Each box contained 10 kilograms of methamphetamine.”
She said police “intercepted a further 19 boxes that Mr. Randhawa had shipped via Manila Cargo between Sept. 23, 2024, and Oct. 9, 2024. These boxes were en route to the Philippines and had yet to leave Canada.”
Randhawa repeated the word “guilty” four times after each count was read out in court during the 20-minute appearance.
Murray agreed to put over his sentencing until the new year so that he could remain in pretrial custody, to more easily facilitate visits with family over the holidays.
The RCMP announced Randhawa’s arrest and details of the Falkland lab bust on Oct. 31, 2024, saying at the time that enough finished fentanyl and precursor chemicals were found on the rural property to make 95 million doses of fentanyl, enough to take “the lives of every Canadian at least twice over. ”
Police seized 54 kilograms of finished fentanyl, 390 kilograms of meth, 35 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of MDMA and six kilograms of cannabis, as well as a total of 89 firearms during the investigation. Subsequent searches also yielded several explosive devices, a massive amount of ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armour and $500,000 in cash.
While no one else was charged, B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Falkland property, Michel Driehuyzen, in early 2025. The statement of claim said that Driehuyzen, who lives in Abbotsford, used criminal cash to acquire or maintain the 66-hectare property at 5011 Hoath Rd. and “knew or ought to have known the manner in which the property was being used.”
“In the alternative, the defendant was wilfully blind or reckless to the manner in which the property was used and is likely to be used in the future,” the claim said.
Driehuyzen said in his response that he was only the landlord and “did not participate or acquiesce in any unlawful activity at the property done by his tenant or his tenant’s agents.”
The lawsuit is continuing. Randhawa was also named as a defendant, though he has not yet filed a statement of defence.