The property is owned by an Abbotsford electrician and was assessed last year at $934,000
The B.C. government is going after the rural property where a specialized RCMP team found an illicit drug “super lab” that police described as Canada’s largest and most sophisticated.
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According to a case filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 31, the acreage at 5011 Hoath Rd. in the rural community of Falkland, between Vernon and Kamloops, was used in “unlawful activity” and should be forfeited to the government.
The property is owned by Michael Driehuyzen, whom property records identify as an electrician living in Abbotsford. Driehuyzen has owned the property since May 2007. It was assessed last year at $934,000.
The claim alleged that between January and Oct. 25, 2024, the property was used in the production, storage and processing of illicit drugs.
When police raided the property on Oct. 25, it found “a large sophisticated clandestine laboratory” capable of producing large quantities of drugs including fentanyl, methamphetamine and MDMA.
Police seized 52 kilograms of fentanyl and several tonnes of precursor chemicals used to make the illicit drugs, RCMP said.
During a press conference days after the raid, RCMP Assistant Commissioner David Teboul said the finished fentanyl and precursor chemicals found at the drug lab was capable of producing 95 million doses of the potentially lethal drug.
Police also seized 30 kg of MDMA, laboratory equipment, security cameras, and various equipment, including a spectrometer and gas chromatograph, industrial power generator, and a trailer that are subject to the seizure request.
The forfeiture office alleges in the lawsuit that some or all the funds used to acquire or maintain the property were proceeds of “unlawful activity” and that the property itself was used to launder the proceeds of crime.
Driehuyzen “knew or ought to have known the manner in which the property was being used and is likely to be used in the future,” it said.
“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.”
Also named as a defendant is Gaganpreet Singh Randhawa, the only person charged following the October raid. The Surrey man is facing several drug and firearms charges.
Driehuyzen is not facing any criminal charges in connection with the drug lab.
None of the allegations have been tested in court. Driehuyzen and Randhawa have not filed a response to the claim.
RCMP had said the cost of dismantling and cleaning up the Falkland “super lab” exceeded $1 million.
With files from Kim Bolan