CRYSTAL METH LABS INCREASINGLY PUT NEIGHBOURHOODS AT RISK

The day after a grow-op in Surrey burst into flames, a crystal meth
lab was discovered in Burnaby leaking toxic chemicals and putting
neighbours' health in danger.

The trend is disturbing not just for police, who are having a tough
time keeping up with the drug war, but also for residents, whose lives
are put at risk.

"It's dangerous business," said Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre.
"Everything from the hydro theft, the bypassing of hydro, to the
amateur electricians who put other people at risk. You've got labs
that are toxic -- you're talking acids and acetones."

About 20 residents, including children and seniors, were evacuated
from 1985 Woodway Place Friday after RCMP received a call at 5:15 a.m.
from a caretaker who discovered a meth lab in suite 605.

Police say the increase of meth labs is disturbing given that they are
already swamped trying to tackle grow-ops.

"We're behind the boat here because the way things seem to work is you
have to have a problem before we can identify it and then get the
funding to look after it," said Sgt. Chuck Doucette of the RCMP "E"
division drug-awareness service.

Ottawa just recently gave the division extra funding to deal with the
spread of meth labs, even though the RCMP warned of the problem more
than a year ago.

While it's difficult to say whether grow-ops or meth labs are more
dangerous to the public, the one certainty is that they both come with
risks.

"What I can say is there's more volatile chemicals usually associated
with meth labs," said Doucette. "The other thing that we know from
experience is that often children are in danger because people who get
addicted to meth . . . they tend to neglect normal things like children."

And with the trend of grow-rips, innocent people are now getting
attacked when criminals break into the wrong house. "I couldn't tell
you the number of times where it's the wrong house," said Lemaitre.

Anyone with information on the tenant of the meth lab in suite 605,
who moved in March 2004, is asked to call Const. Busch at 604-294-7922
or call CrimeStoppers anonymously at 604-669-8477.