‘Thousands of liters of hazardous material seized’: Trio arrested in drug lab bust
A massive synthetic drug lab in Ontario has been dismantled following a months-long RCMP investigation that led to three arrests and the seizure of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs, chemicals and equipment.
Police say the operation, known as Project Overboil, began when officers noticed suspicious chemical purchases linked to a company called Oquin Industries.
The investigation uncovered a sophisticated clandestine laboratory hidden on a large rural property in Schomberg, Ont., along with a second storage site in Port Colborne.
The bust, which was carried out in early Sept., revealed a fully operating synthetic drug lab with thousands of litres of hazardous waste and materials that took 10 days to neutralize on site.
“The arrest of three individuals and the seizure of numerous items represent a significant disruption to the illegal drug trade in Canada,” Supt. Jonathan Ko, officer in charge of the Central Region Organized Crime, said during a press conference Friday morning.
RCMP teams executed search warrants on Sept 7, 2025, seizing approximately 239 kilograms of finished product, including MDMA, GHB and methamphetamines, along with $8,000 in cash, a range of precursor chemicals such as acetone, methanol and hydrochloric acid, and industrial drug-making equipment, including pill presses and rotary evaporators.
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Two firearms and prohibited magazines were also recovered.
The suspects, identified by RCMP as Christopher O’Quinn, Liang Gao and Katie King, face a combined 33 charges related to drug production, trafficking and firearms offences.
Police said O’Quinn has a previous criminal record, while the other two do not.
He added that authorities were tipped off after the company stopped buying those chemicals for three years, and then suddenly started again, which made investigators suspicious.
The purchased chemicals are known to be used in the production of many street drugs like fentanyl, MDMA, methamphetamines and other chemo-synthetic drugs.
Chief Supt. Chris Leather added that the significance of the operation goes far beyond the value of the seized substances.
“While it involved the seizure of millions of dollars’ worth of suspected controlled substances and cash, the true importance lies in the fact that we removed a synthetic drug lab and neutralized thousands of litres of hazardous waste,” Lather said.
“We prevented the future production of millions of dollars’ worth of synthetic drugs and averted a potentially dangerous public safety incident posed by the unsafe storage of dangerous chemicals.”
He added that the case reflects “a growing national trend, the rise of synthetic opioid production within Canada.”
Since Jan. 1, 2024, the RCMP have dismantled a total of 50 clandestine drug laboratories.
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