B.C. Supreme Court justice considering bail review application for man charged in connection with massive fentanyl lab in Chilliwack

Carlos Martinez denied bail in provincial court in February, now looking to higher court to overturn that ruling

August 25, 2026

Carlos Martinez and his Abbotsford lawyer Rob Dhanu took a second swing at a bail pitch starting Tuesday (August 25, 2026) morning in B.C. Supreme Court in Chilliwack. 

Martinez is co-accused with Justin Fauth in connection with a massive clandestine lab discovered on a farm property on South Sumas Road on October 2, 2025, where officers with the RCMP’s CLEAR (Clandestine Lab Enforcement and Response) team uncovered 40 kilograms of fentanyl, 43 kilograms of the drug mephedrone, three kilograms of methamphetamine, four kilograms of MDMA, and more than 5,000 kilograms of of chemicals and precursors used in the production of controlled substances.

Fauth and Martinez are each charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and production of a controlled substance and more than 10 charges each of production of a controlled substance.

Fauth was denied bail in provincial court in November 2025 by Judge Michael Fortino, reasons for which cannot be reported because of a standard publication ban on bail hearings meant to maintain trial fairness.

Martinez had a bail hearing in February 2026. In a decision in March, he too was denied release.

An accused denied bail in provincial court can apply under section 525 of the criminal code for bail review in B.C. Supreme Court. This is allowed if it has been at least 90 days since the start of proceedings. As with bail hearings in provincial court, the evidence shared at Tuesday’s hearing are protected by section 517 of the criminal code banning the publication of evidence taken, information given, representations made by lawyers, and the reasons for a decision by the judge.

Martinez sat in the prisoner box in courtroom 201 wearing the standard orange sweats issued at Surrey Pretrial Centre. He has a thick black beard, black hair held back in a knot. There were three supporters in the courtroom, one man and two women, who Martinez looked back at frequently.

While details from the bail hearing cannot be reported, what can be reported is what the Chilliwack RCMP shared with members of the media at a show-and-tell news conference on April 15. On that day, Supt. Darren Pankratz, officer in charge of the Upper Fraser Valley detachment, stood at a podium in the detachment’s large meeting room behind three folding tables draped with blue tablecloths donning the RCMP logo upon which were mountains of plastic bags filled mostly with fentanyl seized from the property at 44843 South Sumas Rd. While rural, the property is not remote at just 400 metres west of residential areas of Vedder. It is in between Tyson Elementary School 800 metres to the west and an industrial park 600 metres to the east.

Biggest lab ever?

During the RCMP news conference showing off the illegal product seized six months prior , Supt. Pankratz was asked by Something Worth Reading if this was the biggest fentanyl production lab ever dismantled in B.C., maybe even in Canada? He said while it was “certainly a significant seizure,” he could not confirm its size in comparison to others.

In October 2024, however, the RCMP dismantled what was called at the time the largest illicit drug lab ever found in Canada in Falkland, B.C. This lab was significantly larger in physical size, a bust that netted nearly 400 kilograms of meth, but less fentanyl than the Chilliwack lab.

The two individuals arrested in connection with this epic clandestine lab are somewhat unusual as alleged suspects in the criminal underworld for different reasons. What connects them and is most unusual is no prior criminal history.

The 36-year-old Justin Tyler Fauth is a former body builder, fitness consultant and owner of a supplement store in Abbotsford. He’s handsome, fit, heavily tattooed. His social media presence leading up to the pandemic was positive and professional. He has no criminal record. 

Then there is 38-year-old Carlos Balbino Martinez. With a Spanish name so common and also with no criminal record himself to speak of, there’s not much information about him readily available online other than a distracted driving ticket he got in Abbotsford a decade ago. 

How two men with no criminal history in B.C. could be running a massive fentanyl lab that would require an extensive illegal drug distribution network is unclear at this early stage of the case, based on legally reportable evidence.

Back in April, this reporter also asked Supt. Pankratz if there is any connection to this clandestine lab on South Sumas and the Lower Mainland gang conflict or international cartels. It couldn’t possibly be just these two individuals.

“At this point, the investigation is still ongoing and still before the courts,” Pankratz said. “But at this point, we also don't have information to support a direct link to organized crime.”

For now, Fauth remains behind bars. Martinez’s bail review started Tuesday and was scheduled to run into Wednesday. A decision by Justice Girn is not likely for at least a week or two.

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Paul J. Henderson
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