BIG BUST IN 'BURBS

Police Pull In $11M Haul In Ecstasy Pills

The success of homegrown dope has prompted organized crime groups to set up
dangerous Ecstasy labs in GTA neighbourhoods, police said in announcing an
$11-million drug bust.

Enormous profits and demand coupled with low risks and light sentences have
enticed Asian-based crime syndicates to move into Canada, RCMP Chief-Supt.
Ben Soave said yesterday.

"Like marijuana grow operations, the manufacturing of Ecstasy is taking
place in middle-class residential areas," said Soave, head of the Combined
Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

The houses, Soave said, are "inconspicuous. People mind their own business.
(The drug makers) draw their curtains and they have privacy."

Toxic Wastes

But the clandestine labs bring dangers like volatile chemicals and toxic
wastes, he said.

"Violence, including homicides, associated to organized crime is now also
spreading from urban to suburban areas," Soave added.

Two people are charged and police said they've dismantled labs located in
homes on Candlebrook Cres. near Warden and McNicoll Aves. in Scarborough,
and Stargell Cres. near McCowan Rd. and Hwy. 7 in Markham.

The joint-forces squad seized 284,000 Ecstasy pills, 20 kilos of powdered
Ecstasy and three pill-making presses.

Soave attributed the "shift in production" to Canada to crackdowns in
countries in Europe and southeast Asia that traditionally have been the
main Ecstasy suppliers.

"We are seeing the expansion just like we did with the homegrown-ops,"
Soave said. "Initially there was a few, then organized crime moved in and
(now) there are thousands of grow-ops in the Golden Horseshoe."

Costing pennies to make, each Ecstasy pill is sold for between $20 to $25.
Ingredients can be bought from chemical warehouses and assembled from
Internet "recipes."

The colourful pills are intended to fool young people -- the main target --
into believing they're less harmful and addictive than other drugs, Soave said.

But the drugs are known to cause long-term health consequences, such as
brain damage and Parkinson's disease.

Zhang Wei Ting, 40, and Wong Yuan Chang, 39, both of Toronto, are charged
with producing drug and drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.