4 suspects charged after police bust illegal meth lab at a home in Niagara Falls

Photos from an illegal meth lab that was allegedly operating at a home in Niagara Falls. (NRPS photos)

Four people are each facing several charges after police raided and dismantled an illegal meth lab that was allegedly operating at a home in Niagara Falls.

On Dec. 23, detectives with Niagara Regional Police Service’s (NRPS) Major Drugs and Gangs Unit, with the help of members of the 2 District Street Crime Unit, obtained a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrant for a private residence on Brookside Drive.

Investigators say that warrant led to the discovery and seizure of a “clandestine” drug laboratory.

Members of the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) Clandestine Laboratory Investigative Response Team, in conjunction the OPP’s UCRT Team and Durham Regional Police Synthetic Drug Officers, executed the warrant and assisted with dismantling the lab safely. Niagara Falls Fire Department and Niagara EMS were also on standby nearby to assist with any potential hazards.

Police say the raid also resulted in the seizure of 42 20-litre pails of suspected liquid methamphetamine, 17 kilograms of suspected crystal methamphetamine, $6,200 in cash, and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

It is believed each pail seized could produce approximately 17.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, they said.

“The total estimated yield of this seizure is being estimated at approximately 752 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine worth approximately 3.5 million dollars,” NRPS said in a news release.

Four people have been arrested and charged with several drug and firearm charges.

They are 32-year-old Kristopher Burnett-Ackerman and 25-year-old Veronika Goffin, both of Niagara Falls, and 25-year-old Ricardo Yanez and 23-year-old Brandon Fuentes Escalara, both of Victorville, Calif.

The accused were held in custody and attended a bail hearing on Dec. 24 in St. Catharines. They remain in jail pending future scheduled court appearances.

This investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information is asked to contact NRPS’s Major Drug Unit at 905-688-4111 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.