EAST-END DRUG LAB RAIDED

Cops Say Chemicals Could Have Made $80 Million In Ecstasy

AN ILLEGAL Scarborough drug lab that could have manufactured up to 4
million Ecstasy pills worth nearly $80 million on the streets, was raided
yesterday by the RCMP. The Mounties' Clandestine Laboratory Team burst
through the front door of a bungalow on Todd Rd., in the Sheppard
Ave.-Brimley Rd. area, around 9:30 a.m.

Inside, officers found a pill press and chemicals, including acetone,
hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, which would have made about 50,000
Ecstasy pills.

"This is where they were cooking things up," said RCMP Cpl. Howard Adams.
He said no one has been arrested yet.

He said police also raided two public storage units in Scarborough that
were allegedly used to store raw materials for drug-making. In total, all
of the chemicals seized would have made 4 million pills, he said.

Adams said the lab was also used to make the deadly and upcoming illegal
drug methamphetamine. In other investigations, Toronto Police had recently
found Ecstasy pills that were blended with methamphetamine, making them
addictive.

Neighbours said they noticed unmarked police cruisers on the street for the
past three or four days and knew police were watching a house, but didn't
know which one. On Tuesday, police parked in front of the drug-lab house,
waiting for a warrant to enter it.

The windows had been sealed shut, and neighbours said the blinds were never
pulled back.

Adams said he thought hidden Ecstasy labs are on the increase across the
country. "I know there have been a lot of cases in the west and we're
beginning to see more here as well," he said.

"What we're finding now, though, is in the past it was in the industrial
areas and rural areas, and now we're finding them (illegal labs) in
residential areas as well," Adams said.

He declined to reveal how police found out about the lab.

Toronto Fire dedicated up to 17 trucks to the raid, in case something went
wrong with the handling of the chemicals. One medical unit also attended.
Health Canada officials were also at the scene to monitor the chemicals,
but refused to comment.

Adams said the emergency crews were called in because "we never know what
we're going to find."

SOLD OR RENTED?

Neighbours said a new power line had been recently installed at the home.
The bungalow had been put up for sale last year, but no one knew if it had
been sold or rented.

"It's pretty quiet there," Tricia Maughan said, adding she has only seen
one person enter the home, and noticed he had painted the garage door in
January.

"Obviously, we prefer if it wasn't here," Maughan said.