DIVES ARE DRUG-MAKER'S PRIME REAL ESTATE

Kitchens Of Death

Illegal lab operators like to use old buildings, preferably rented, to cook
their illicit product.

After all, if the buildings survive being set on fire during the cooking
process, the interior is usually coated with toxic waste -- usually red
phosphorous -- by the time the lab is shut down. "The building usually has
to be torn down," said Sgt. Bill Stewart of the Winnipeg police drug squad.

Most clandestine labs are located in low-income areas of a city, or remote
areas, where the chance of discovery is slim.

Clandestine Conditions

"Keeping in mind that isolation is the criminal chemist's best friend,
urban low-income homes and apartments are becoming favourite locations due
to the landlord usually residing elsewhere," wrote clandestine lab expert,
Sgt. K.J. Graham, in an RCMP publication. But an unscrupulous operator may
begin cooking in even high-income areas, as Calgary police discovered last May.

The home was rented by a man known to neighbours as a friendly guy who
often played with area children. Inside the two-storey home, the owner
found the once-white ceilings had turned pink and yellow from the toxic
fumes generated by cooking the drugs.

Last year, 30 labs were discovered in B.C, Ontario and Quebec. The Boyd
Avenue bust last July was the first for Manitoba.

Police across North America are calling for stiffer Canadian laws to
prevent the large quantity purchases of readily accessible ingredients
needed to begin cooking a batch of the drug -- antihistamines, iodine
crystals, methyl hydrate, safrole (a derivative of sassafras oil), and even
asthma medications.

Unable to purchase large quantities in the United States, many Americans
are buying their ingredients in Canada and smuggling the goods back into
their own country.

American legislation bans the large sale of 186 substances used in
clandestine labs. Canada bans only six.