DRUG DEALERS GET SUPPLIES HERE, U.S. SAYS

Canadian Cold Medicine Used To Make Speed, Agency Complains

WASHINGTON - Canada is now the leading source of the chemical used to
produce speed in the United States and Canadian police are helpless to stop
illegal shipments, American drug enforcement officials said yesterday.

U.S. authorities yesterday uprooted a drug ring that smuggled a chemical
used to make cold medicine from Canada and cooked the tablets to make
methamphetamine, also known as speed.

The chemical, called pseudoephedrine, is produced mainly by China and India
and is unregulated in Canada.

In recent years, U.S. authorities have clamped down on pseudoephedrine
production and distribution in the United States, forcing illegal drug labs
to look north for the crucial raw ingredient to make speed or, as it is
also known, "crank."

According to U.S. officials, Canada's pseudoephedrine imports have jumped
1,400% since the mid-1990s, more than the country could ever use -- enough
to clear every Canadian nose several times over.

About a quarter of the chemical imported by Canada was seized on the U.S.
border.

The two smuggling rings broken up yesterday were run by Middle Eastern
families who sent their agents to Canada to buy bulk shipments of
pseudoephedrine from two companies, Formulex Canada Inc. of Mont-Royal,
Que, and Frega Inc. of Levis, Que, a subsidiary of Le Groupe M. Vachon.

The quantities seized on the U.S. border were staggering.

The first big bust last April netted 43 million pseudoephedrine tablets
after a trucker rolled up to the border in Detroit and failed to persuade
U.S. Customs that his trailer was empty.

Later shipments disguised the chemical in bubble gum and glassware. The
smugglers used trucks painted with Federal Express and U.S. Postal service
logos to try to sweep past U.S. Customs without being inspected.

Since April, U.S. officials have seized 27 tonnes of Canadian
pseudoephedrine, enough to make 22.5 tonnes of methamphetamine with a
street value of about US$400-million.

The eight seizures took place at Detroit, Port Huron, Mich., and Grand
Portage, Minn.

"We are hopeful that this operation, and the illustration of this case,
will move forward legislation in Canada that will regulate pseudoephedrine
that is such a problem in the United States," said Asa Hutchinson, head of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

U.S. authorities stressed that neither Canadian company was doing anything
illegal by selling the precursor chemical, and mentioned that they had been
helped by Frega officials who alerted law enforcement when bulk purchases
of pseudoephedrine were made.

Officials at Formulex insisted that they had no knowledge of bulk sales
going to shady U.S. smugglers.

"I am not aware of these sales," said Normand Simard, the company's head of
production.

Health Canada is planning to impose regulations on pseudoephedrine this
year, restricting bulk imports and exports.

"Right now, there are no regulations so anyone can import whatever they
want," said Collette Gentes-Hawn, a spokeswoman for Canada Customs.

The lack of any law regulating pseudoephedrine in Canada has hampered the
ability of U.S. authorities to crush their burgeoning methamphetamine labs,
controlled by Mexican crime syndicates based in southern California.

The RCMP can only notify the Americans that a suspicious shipment is headed
their way and is unable to intervene.

In one case, a bogus pharmaceutical firm based in an abandoned plumber's
shop in London, Ont., was closed down by Canadian authorities, but the man
who ran the outfit cannot be extradited to the United States.

Extradition only occurs if the offence is a crime in both Canada and the
United States.

Canada's slow movement to adopt tougher rules on pseudoephedrine is making
Washington increasingly frustrated.

The U.S. ambassador to Ottawa has mentioned the issue and other U.S.
officials are ratcheting up the pressure.

"Right now in Canada, they do not have, in my judgment, adequate laws and
regulations to protect against the illegal diversion of pseudoephedrine for
the illegal manufacture of [methamphetamines]," said Robert Bonner, the
U.S. Customs Service commissioner.

"We want them to move expeditiously," Mr. Hutchinson said.

"We urge the Canadian government to move as quickly as possible to enact
regulatory legislation."

The U.S. drug bust, dubbed Operation Mountain Express, resulted in 54
arrests, the confiscation of 96 cars and the seizure of US$350,000.

Those arrested included people from Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Kuwait and Mexico.

U.S. officials said they were not aware of any Canadians being arrested.

Some of the money from the smuggling operation has been traced back to
Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries, but U.S. officials said there
was no sign of any link with terrorist groups.

"The huge pseudoephedrine seizures in this case prevented thousands of
pounds of 'meth' from being manufactured and sold on the streets of our
country," Mr. Bonner said.

jcienski@nationalpost.com