DRUG LAB TEAM HONES TAKEDOWN PROCEDURE

IT's Friday, and the Clan Lab Team Has Sprung Into Action.

RCMP Cpl. Chris Robidoux, Saskatchewan's clandestine drug lab (Clan
Lab) co-ordinator, has joined individuals from the RCMP, Saskatoon
Police Service, Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services and ambulance
personnel to take down a drug lab in a mock drill.

The scenario is that someone has called the fire department to report
a chemical-like smell. The location is a small farm with decrepit
buildings and dry, overgrown grass, a droll comparison to the bright
yellow fire trucks that have taken over.

In a case such as this, the local engine company responds, along with
a small hazmat (hazardous materials) unit.

Fire services instructor Wilbur Hueser explains there are many
indicators of a clan lab, and if they are present, the full hazmat
unit is dispatched.

Today, a pile of waste including unmarked red metal drums and pink
tinted coffee filters, is sitting outside the door of the farmhouse.

According to Robidoux, a member of the RCMP's integrated drug unit
based in Regina, labs often create eight or nine times more toxic
waste than drugs.

Duct-taped hoses are sticking outside of the windows and the doors,
another warning flag.

At this point, the fire department and hazmat teams would clear out
and situate themselves about half a mile away. Here they await the
additional hazmat resources and the police.

"Our protocol is that we don't go into any clan labs until the police
secure the scene," says Hueser. "Once they come on scene we join into
a unified command."

The entire process of cleaning up a clan lab is extremely long,
taking anywhere from two days to three weeks.

Police officers suit up in protective gear and clear the scene. This
involves monitoring and ventilating the air. They also have to escort
anybody present off the premises and directly to the awaiting
decontamination unit.

A chemist is called in to assist officers in sampling evidence.

The final step is calling in Environment Saskatchewan and eventually
a contracted business to clean the local environment of toxic
chemicals and other harmful materials.

Although certain ingredients needed for drugs such as crystal meth
are getting harder to come by, it will not stop production, says Robidoux.

"These people that produce it are very transient," he says.

Despite the resilience of drug producers, Robidoux says there has
been only one response in the past year to a clandestine drug lab in the area.