ILLEGAL DRUG LAB UNCOVERED BY POLICE, BUT NO CHARGES LAID

A sophisticated chemical laboratory capable of producing illegal
drugs was uncovered by Burnaby RCMP on Wednesday. However, the drugs
were nowhere to be found.

A Crime Stoppers tip led investigators and chemists to raid the
apartment. They found lab-grade equipment, glassware, heating mantles
and various types of chemicals, but they did not recover any
methamphetamine, police said.

"The materials that we found are what you would find in a clandestine
lab," said Burnaby RCMP Sgt. Ted De Jager. "The equipment is more
sophisticated than a regular meth lab and could produce a significant
quantity of drugs."

The male tenant of the apartment was arrested and later released. No
charges have been laid.

The Provincial Clandestine Laboratory Response Team and Health Canada
are analyzing samples of some of the chemicals retrieved from the
lab. Hazco Environmental Services also removed several volatile
chemicals from the apartment to ensure safety.

"Regardless of what it's producing, labs are labs, and it's a danger
to the apartment building," said De Jager. He warned that solvents,
strong acids and corrosive base materials can lead to fires,
explosions and the release of toxic gases.

In a similar case, a 42-year-old man who was arrested in 2007 in
another sophisticated meth lab in Forest Grove, B.C., was convicted
on April 14 of production of a controlled substance and possession
for the purpose of trafficking.

Marco Tulio Curcio, from Langley, was arrested with three others
after a four-month investigation, which led to the seizure of North
America's largest known reaction flask, capable of producing 20
kilograms of meth per batch.

"We don't know at this point how he could have come to possess the
flask because it's not easy to get and would have been very
expensive," said North District RCMP Const. Craig Douglass.
"Sometimes, all it takes to produce meth is a glass dish on a stove,
tin foil and the right chemicals. If you have actual scientific
equipment, it makes it that much easier."

The RCMP also found 16.7 kilograms of meth, equal to 160,000 doses on
the street. According to Douglass, meth is much more addictive than
cocaine because it is cheaper and the high lasts longer.

"Meth takes a lot longer to metabolize," Douglass said. Curcio will
be sentenced on October 22 at 100 Mile House.