By Black Sheep
September 9, 2026
Sometimes journalism does exactly what journalism is supposed to do: dig where institutions would rather nobody dig, follow the evidence, cultivate sources, ask uncomfortable questions and refuse to accept the official press release as the end of the story.
That is why I want to give full credit to investigative journalist Sam Cooper and The Bureau for continuing to pursue the extraordinary story surrounding the massive drug superlab dismantled near Falkland, British Columbia, in October 2024.
Read Sam Cooper’s full investigation here:
https://www.thebureau.news/p/rcmp-told-us-agencies-falkland-was?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1444443&post_id=214885011&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=z7rl2&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Cooper’s September 9, 2026 report carries a headline that should make every Canadian stop and ask some serious questions:
“RCMP Told U.S. Agencies Falkland Was ‘Not an Open Discussion.’ A Year Later, No One Has Been Charged With Running the Superlab.”
Read that again.
Canada’s largest known fentanyl and methamphetamine laboratory gets dismantled — and according to The Bureau, nearly two years after the raid, nobody has been charged with actually running the superlab.
That deserves scrutiny.
The raid was enormous
The RCMP announced the Falkland operation in 2024 as the dismantling of what it described as the largest and most sophisticated illicit drug superlab in Canadian history.
This wasn’t somebody cooking drugs in a basement.
It was industrial-scale.
Yet Cooper’s latest reporting raises a much bigger question than simply what police seized:
Who was actually behind it?
And perhaps more importantly:
Why has establishing accountability apparently proven so difficult?
Then the Americans came knocking
According to The Bureau’s reporting, representatives from several major American law-enforcement agencies attended a June 2025 briefing at RCMP E Division headquarters at Green Timbers in Surrey.
Cooper reports that agencies represented included the:
- Drug Enforcement Administration;
- Federal Bureau of Investigation;
- Homeland Security Investigations; and
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to an unnamed U.S. official quoted by The Bureau, the Americans expected something resembling a working session.
Instead, the official says they were told:
“This isn’t an open discussion. This is just a briefing of what we have.”
If accurately characterized, that is an extraordinary statement given the international dimensions alleged in the reporting.
The Bureau says American investigators had traced chemical-supply networks from China into Canada and were examining connections involving Canadian, Chinese, Mexican and Iranian actors.
Those are allegations and investigative leads — not convictions — and that distinction matters.
But they are certainly serious enough to justify asking why cooperation between Canadian and American agencies was apparently so constrained.
The White House?
This is where Cooper’s reporting becomes even more remarkable.
The unnamed U.S. official told The Bureau that frustration surrounding the Canadian handling of the case had reached beyond individual American agencies:
“It did reach outside of all of our agencies to the White House.”
Think about the implications of that statement.
If American concerns about cooperation on a Canadian fentanyl investigation reached the White House, then this wasn’t simply bureaucratic friction between investigators.
It had potentially become an international law-enforcement and diplomatic issue.
And Canadians deserve to know why.
And where are the people who allegedly ran the operation?
That is the question hanging over the entire story.
Police can seize drugs.
They can photograph evidence.
They can hold press conferences.
They can display guns, chemicals, cash and laboratory equipment.
But dismantling organized crime ultimately means identifying, prosecuting and convicting the people directing it.
According to Cooper’s September 9 report, the case’s latest result was a guilty plea involving a lower-level dealer who attempted to ship methamphetamine to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, The Bureau reports that international figures believed by some sources to be behind the laboratory remained outside the reach of the case.
Cooper also reports that some sources connect individuals in the broader network to alleged Sinaloa Cartel figure Ryan Wedding.
Again, allegations and intelligence connections are not proof of criminal responsibility. Anyone accused of a crime is entitled to due process.
But that doesn’t make the underlying questions disappear.
Quite the opposite.
This is why independent investigative journalism matters
Governments have communications departments.
Police forces have media relations units.
Institutions issue carefully constructed statements explaining what they want the public to know.
Investigative journalists are supposed to find out what those institutions aren’t telling us.
That is why I am giving credit here to Sam Cooper.
You don’t have to agree with every conclusion an investigative journalist reaches. You don’t even have to agree with every source.
What matters is that somebody keeps asking the questions.
Who supplied the chemicals?
Who financed the operation?
Who controlled the laboratory?
Where did the drugs go?
Where did the money go?
What did Canadian authorities know?
What did American authorities know?
Why were American agencies apparently frustrated?
Why, according to The Bureau’s source, was the RCMP briefing declared “not an open discussion”?
And almost two years after the raid, who is being held accountable for actually operating Canada’s largest known illicit-drug superlab?
Those are legitimate questions.
Follow the evidence — wherever it goes
This is where Canadians should resist the temptation to turn stories like this into partisan theatre.
Fentanyl doesn’t care whether you’re Liberal, Conservative, NDP or PPC.
Organized crime doesn’t care.
Money laundering doesn’t care.
International criminal networks exploit weak points wherever they find them — banking systems, ports, corporations, governments and law-enforcement jurisdictions.
The appropriate response isn’t conspiracy theory.
It’s evidence.
Documents.
Financial records.
Court filings.
Intelligence.
Witnesses.
International cooperation.
And journalism willing to keep pulling the thread.
Credit to Sam Cooper and The Bureau
So credit where credit is due.
Sam Cooper and The Bureau have continued investigating stories involving organized crime, money laundering, foreign interference and Canada’s fentanyl trade long after the initial headlines disappeared.
This Falkland story deserves continued attention.
Not because every allegation in it has necessarily been proven.
But because the unanswered questions are enormous.
Canada witnessed the dismantling of what the RCMP itself described as the country’s largest and most sophisticated illicit drug superlab.
Now Canadians deserve to know the rest of the story.
Who built it?
Who financed it?
Who supplied it?
Who protected or facilitated it, if anyone?
Where did its product go?
And ultimately:
Who was running the damn thing?
Keep digging, Sam.
Because somebody has to.
SOURCE & CREDIT
This Black Sheep commentary is based primarily on reporting by investigative journalist Sam Cooper, founder and editor of The Bureau:
“RCMP Told U.S. Agencies Falkland Was ‘Not an Open Discussion.’ A Year Later, No One Has Been Charged With Running the Superlab”
Sam Cooper, The Bureau
September 9, 2026
Readers should read Cooper’s original investigation directly for the complete reporting, sourcing, context and any subsequent updates.
The Black Sheep distinguishes allegations, intelligence claims and source accounts from facts established through court proceedings. Individuals mentioned in investigative reporting are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
— David H. Drover
The Black Sheep
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