TOWN OF HANNA AT HUB OF METH BUST

EDMONTON - An Alberta man was one of a dozen people charged in a
Canada-wide raid of an alleged drug distribution network that was
producing methamphetamine.

On Wednesday, 250 police officers raided 34 homes and businesses
across the country, seizing an undisclosed amount of cash, firearms
and more than 600 kilograms of ephedrine, one of the main ingredients
used to manufacture crystal methamphetamine.

Ten men and two women have been charged in connection with the
raids.

Alberta RCMP raided an automotive restoration business in Hanna where
they seized two 25-kilogram bags of ephedrine and 13 containers that
would have each held 25 kilograms of the same product, said Cpl. Wayne
Oakes, spokesman for K-Division, Alberta's RCMP headquarters.

Aubrey Bruneau, 44, of Hanna, was arrested in Manitoba on four
outstanding warrants, including two counts of conspiracy to produce
methamphetamine and two counts of exporting a controlled substance:
methamphetamine. Hanna is located about 310 kilometres southeast of
Edmonton.

The raids were the culmination of a massive undercover investigation
dubbed Operation Diversion which included Canada Border Services
Agency, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and police
across Canada. Manitoba RCMP said ephedrine was being shipped from a
business in Thunder Bay, Ont., to Winnipeg; Lac du Bonnet, Man., and
Hanna.

The product was then redistributed to Vancouver; Buffalo, N.Y., and
Sacramento, Calif.

Ephedrine is used in over-the-counter cold medicines and
decongestants. There is no Canadian manufacturer of the chemical. The
ephedrine seized in Hanna was apparently manufactured in India, Oakes
said.

"One of the reasons we brought the containers before the media is to
help heighten the awareness of what this looks like. If you are seeing
this type of product, whether it is in a large urban centre or a
smaller rural community, it should be sending off an alarm bell and
there is no harm in contacting police," Oakes told a news conference.