AGENTS SEIZE 'HUGE' PCP LAB

3 Men in Custody After Tip Spurs Investigation

TAMPA - Federal authorities have uncovered what they describe as a
"huge" PCP lab here capable of producing millions of doses of the
illegal drug.

The lab, in a rented house at 2626 E. 32nd Ave., is thought to be one
of the largest ever discovered in Florida, and possibly among the
biggest in the nation, according to Joe Kilmer, spokesman for the Drug
Enforcement Administration's Miami field division.

"This is a huge find," Kilmer said.

PCP, or phencyclidine hydrochloride, was banned for human use in 1965
for its delusional effects, according to the Psychoactive Drugs Web
site.

Authorities are still investigating where the drug was sold and when.
"This part of the case is in its infancy," Kilmer said.

Three men were arrested this week after they allegedly tried to buy
piperidine, a PCP ingredient. The defendants were indicted Wednesday.
That night, agents searched the 32nd Avenue house rented by John Cruz,
43, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

DEA agents found 15 buckets of chemicals inside the house, as well as
some white powder thought to be PCP, officials said.

Thursday, Cruz and co-defendants Christopher Michael Zimmitt, 22, of
Virginia, and Michael Burpee, 36, of Ocala and Virginia, pleaded not
guilty before U.S. Magistrate Mary Scriven, who ordered the trio held
without bail.

Contacted later, Cruz's attorney, Pedro L. Amador Jr. declined to
comment, saying only "... we entered a plea of not guilty and we'll
have our day in court."

Kilmer said the quantity of piperidine seized was enough to produce 2
million doses of PCP. If the amount of piperidine had been equal to
the other chemicals found during the search, the lab would have been
capable of producing "many, many, many millions" of doses, he said.

The lab was discovered after a confidential source tipped DEA Special
Agent Christopher Cascio in April that Cruz and two others from
Virginia were trying to find piperidine in Tampa, according to an
affidavit prepared by Cascio.

In May, Cascio heard from a Plantation detective who discovered the
same thing from another informant, who put one of the men, Burpee, in
touch with an undercover detective posing as a piperidine supplier.

Monday, the detective sold three gallons of the chemical to Burpee
outside the Steak and Ale Restaurant on West Shore Boulevard. All
three defendants were arrested, according to the affidavit.

Burpee later confessed and said Zimmitt and Cruz had come to the
restaurant to "watch his back," court papers state.

If convicted, each defendant could face up to 20 years in federal
prison.