CLANDESTINE DRUG LABS SKYROCKET IN B.C.

RCMP Turn to Private Sector in Fight Against Ecstasy, Meth Market

The RCMP is turning to private-sector companies to cope with a dramatic
increase in the number of underground drug labs set up to feed B.C.'s
growing hunger for ecstasy and methamphetamine.

The clandestine laboratories are often found in the bathrooms, basements
and garages of residential homes, police say. They are stocked with a
lethal mix of chemicals including acetone, ephedrine, methanol, rubbing
alcohol, paint thinner and red phosphorus -- the active ingredient in road
flares.

Last week, the force issued a request looking for "highly qualified and
fully licensed [hazard materials] specialists." It's the first-step toward
establishing a contract with a company to handle and dispose of chemicals
seized from the labs, police said.

"It's something we're really running into more and more and it's something
we've got to get a handle on," said Sergeant Mike Harding, head of the
RCMP's drug operations support unit in B.C.

"We don't really know how much is out there. We know how much is on the
street, but where it's coming from? We don't really know."

The labs are often uncovered after fires or other accidents occur. In the
last six months, Harding said, those have been occurring with alarming
frequency.

Sergeant Doug Culver, the RCMP's national clandestine laboratory
co-ordinator, said B.C. accounts for 50 per cent of such makeshift labs
discovered in Canada. He said the national number is growing -- from
virtually none five years ago to more than 40 uncovered last year.

"I honestly don't know (why the number is increasing so fast)," said
Culver, who worked 22 years in B.C. with the Vancouver and Victoria drug
units. "The only thing we can figure is that the growth of clandestine
laboratories in Canada is mirroring what happened in the U.S. about 10
years ago."

A decade ago, he said, there was a small network of drug labs operating in
California. The number of operations increased exponentially and began
spreading to the east.

Last year, 80,000 chemical drug-making operations were discovered by U.S.
authorities, he said.

In Washington state that number grew from about 50 in 1997 to 1,470 last year.

"We're starting to see increases in labs in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec,"
Culver said.

Many labs are run independently, but police are now uncovering links to
biker gangs like the Hells Angels and Asian organized crime gangs.

"There's some horrendous profits to be made in this," he said. "It's a
crime of greed."

Harding also said half of the drug labs found are now producing ecstasy, a
drug that until a few years ago was only made in The Netherlands and parts
of Asia.

"It's almost unheard of until very recently that ecstasy is being produced
in North America," he said.

Shutting down such operations, when they are found, also becomes the
responsibility of several government departments, including housing
officials and the health department.

One Vancouver house was put under 24-hour fire watch last year after police
discovered red phosphorous, a flammable ingredient used to make speed, in
the house. In Windsor, Ont. last year, a lab was discovered in a top floor
apartment of a high-rise building.

There are also indications in most labs that chemicals have been flushed
down toilets or dumped down drains, possibly contaminating water supplies.