ECSTASY 'SUPERLAB' BIGGEST IN B.C.

Mounties Say Such Operations Pose Danger In Residential Neighbourhoods

RICHMOND - A raid on a River Road home last week uncovered the
largest ecstasy production plant ever found in B.C., the RCMP said Thursday.

Two senior Mounties who disclosed new details about the raid warned
that such operations pose a danger to the residential neighbourhoods
in which they're located.

Insp. Brian Cantera, who is in charge of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver
Drug Section, described the Richmond operation as a "super lab."

"A super lab is defined as a clandestine lab which is capable of
producing more than 10 kilograms of finished product," Cantera said.
"In this investigation, this lab had well over 100 kilograms of
crystallized product, not in pill form, and over 200 kilograms of
pressed tablets," said Cantera.

The pressed tablets added up to 750,000 pills of ecstasy. The lab was
equipped with two automated pill presses capable of producing
thousands of pills an hour.

Several fully automatic weapons were found as well as a quantity of
incendiary and explosive devices that police believe could have been
used as booby traps or as defence against anyone trying to hijack the
lab's production.

RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Harriman said the Friday raid, which led to two
other Richmond premises being raided Monday, was a "significant
advancement in combatting organized crime in B.C."

Clearly pleased with the outcome of the Monday raids, which found two
marijuana-growing operations and further explosives, Harriman said
the labs posed an immense risk to neighbours and to the RCMP
officers, firefighters, paramedics and municipal employees involved
in dismantling them.

Five persons were arrested after raids were conducted at 21880 River
Rd., 23281 Gilley and 8440 Odlin Cr., all in Richmond. Further
arrests are anticipated, police said.

Cantera said the labs were operated by trusted members of an
organized crime ring.

"The profits in the sale of these illicit drugs are extreme," he said.

He then drew an oblique reference to the numbers of violent incidents
and gangland murders in Vancouver this year.

"As seen in Vancouver over the past several months, there is often a
great deal of violence associated to the control of these illicit
activities, which again poses a safety problem to the public," said Cantera.

"And the negative impacts don't end there.

"The environmental damage in this investigation is indisputable," he
said, noting that the lab was located next to a bog and to the Fraser
River. Municipal crews probing the River Road property have found
evidence of soil contamination and Health Canada has been called in
to assess it.

Police say that for every kilogram of ecstasy or methamphetamine
produced there is seven to 10 kilograms of toxic waste left as residue.

Cantera said the public should play its part in closing down the illegal labs.

"If you see something that looks suspicious call the police," he said.

Meanwhile, Surrey RCMP have released details of a small crystal meth
lab discovered in the 5300-block of 125A Street, within 100 metres of
a church, an elementary school and a preschool daycare centre.

On June 16, the detachment's auto theft unit followed a stolen
vehicle to the residence and arrested the male driver, who was hiding
in the home's crawl space. While in the home, police saw evidence of
possible stolen property, including driver's licences and other forms
of identification.

A search warrant was issued and the home was searched the next day,
during which investigators found computers containing thousands of
credit card numbers, dozens of credit cards, driver's licences,
point-of-sale terminals, card readers and SIN cards and a large
quantity of tools belonging to a Burnaby construction company.

They also found 20 litres of acetone, a chemical used in the
manufacture of crystal meth.

Surrey RCMP Sgt. Roger Morrow said police believe the home, on a
large lot, was a transit point where residents would exchange crystal
meth for stolen property.

Charges against three individuals were being processed, said Morrow.