SQ raid targets suspected fentanyl production ring in Eastern Townships and South Shore

Provincial police say an organized crime network suspected of involvement in the production offentanylcapsules was the target of raids launched yesterday in the Montrgie and Eastern Townships regions.

One of the targets was a home lab in the Eastern Townships municipality ofPottonwherepolice believe pill capsules were being filled with fentanyl.

If fentanyl is confirmed among the substances seized during the raids, it would mark afirst forQuebec, Sret du Qubecspokeswoman Aurlie Guindon said.

"If we come to the conclusion that there was in fact fentanyl production, it would be the first dismantling of a fentanyl encapsulation laboratory in Quebec," she said.

The synthetic drug has been responsible for hundreds of fatal overdoses around Canada and the United States in recent years, including as many as nine in one night last week in Vancouver.

Fentanyl is estimated to be 80 times as powerful as morphine and hundreds of times more powerful than heroin, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Fentanyl deaths are a Canada-wide 'disaster'

The SQ said the lab would be dismantled today.

They did not say if anyone was arrested during the raids.

Search warrants were also carried out in Longueuil, Boucherville and St-Roch-de-Richelieu by officers from the SQand Longueuil police.

Police said the raids resulted in the seizure of numerous items linked to the production and distribution of drugs, including 400 kilograms of chemical precursor, 43 imprinting toolsused for marking capsules, a vial of liquid resembling GHB, a stun gun, an imitation firearmand a machine for counting money.