DRUG INGREDIENTS NOT HARD TO COME BY IN LOCAL STORES

Walk into practically any drug store, hardware or automotive supply
store and you can buy materials that can supply a crystal meth lab.

Sudafed, or any brand of cold tablets containing ephadrine or
pseudoephedrine, acetone, paint thinner, brake cleaner, iodine,
methanol in gas line anti freeze, red phosphorus from matches or road
flares, propane, cat litter, rock salt, coffee filters and many more
items are used to extract the methamphetamine from cold remedy tablets.

"Common household items. Individually there's no problem," said RCMP
Const. Beth Blackburn. "All this stuff together, we have issues."

Police want the public and business owners to keep an eye out for
meth lab suppliers and telltale signs of the labs themselves.

The key to spotting meth lab supplying can lie in the quantities purchased.

Every kilogram of refined crystal meth produces seven kilograms of
waste materials.

Meth labs in Canada are often fairly large scale, financed by organized crime.

None have been found in Nanaimo yet, but police are finding dump
sites of containers from expended chemicals used to manufacture the drug.

"You have your open-litre jug of fuel to start your briquettes in
your backyard - that's not a big deal," Blackburn said.

"It's when you see eight, nine, 10 cans of it, because legitimately
who in their right mind is going to use all of that even in a given summer."

Blackburn brings up an image on her computer screen of a filthy
kitchen with cupboards and counters cluttered with equipment and
encrusted with chemical stains and residue. It is a home meth lab in the U.S.

"You'll often find this in small mom and pop operations," said Blackburn.

"They make enough for themselves and a little extra to sell.
Sometimes small children are running around in this. We haven't seen
this sort of thing in Canada yet, but if it starts here we're in big trouble."