FIREFIGHTERS DISCOVER DRUG LAB

Residents in the 16th Avenue and McCowan Road area were shocked
firefighters found a $10-million ecstasy lab in their end of Markham Saturday.

"This is a good neighbourhood," said Rosario Ragas, who lives blocks from
the Manhattan Drive home where York Regional Police found at least 50
kilograms of powdered ecstasy ready to be pressed into pills.

It was the sharp eye of another resident concerned about smoke coming from
the garage early Saturday morning that led to the discovery.

Markham firefighters responded to a call around 8:15 a.m. Saturday. When
they entered the home, they found the ecstasy manufacturing operation.

"(Firefighters) went in to investigate the fire and found a working ecstasy
lab," York Regional Police Det. Rob Cullen said. "It is very lucky that the
fire was caught. It could have caused a serious explosion. That house would
have been a crater."

Police officers dressed in blue protective suits and masks, aided by Health
Canada officials, were continuing to remove drugs and dangerous chemicals
such as acetone and methyl hydrate Monday.

Investigators estimate the drugs could be worth as much as $10 million.

The fire, along with fumes from the drug-making process, left much of the
house either destroyed or contaminated.

Police believe two people, one of them as young as eight, fled the home
before firefighters entered.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423 or Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.