TEAMS CLEAR CHEMICALS FROM MASSIVE DRUG LAB

An East-End drug factory shut down by police earlier this week had enough
chemicals to produce up to $20 million worth of ecstasy, a Health Canada
chemist said yesterday.

Hazardous materials crews and chemical experts began carefully dismantling
the Canotek Rd. drug lab, documenting the evidence and removing various
dangerous substances.

Police concentrated their efforts on a storage locker where dozens of
chemicals used in the drug production process, including six 20-litre pails
of sulphuric acid, were stored.

It's expected to take at least another day for cleanup crews to remove the
chemicals and equipment from the actual lab located in a warehouse across
the street at 5330 Canotek Rd.

"This is one of the biggest ones I've seen," said Health Canada chemist
John Hugel, a specialist in clandestine labs who estimated the operation
could easily produce at least $20 million worth of the designer drug,
otherwise known as MDMA.

"In the province of Ontario, it would be in the top 5%," said Hugel.

BIGGEST IN HISTORY

Police won't know exactly how long the lab had been operational until after
Hugel can examine the lab equipment. However, drug officers suspect it was
operating for at least a year.

It's the first synthetic drug lab of its type found in Ottawa and could be
the largest designer drug bust in the city's history.

"It's the first one we've got and it is also an extremely large one," said
Ottawa police Supt. Richard Lafortune.

So far, police have charged one man in connection with the facility. Mingh
Thoan Ha, 47, was charged Monday with producing a controlled substance,
possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of
crime.

Ha was arrested on the weekend following a traffic stop on Hwy. 416 west of
Ottawa as he returned from a weekend visit to Toronto.

Police later recovered 5,000 ecstasy pills and an undisclosed amount of
cash from the car he was riding in.

Ha appeared briefly in Ottawa court yesterday and was remanded in custody
pending another appearance tomorrow.

Police said they made the arrest after determining the lab was ready to
produce another batch of pills.

"There were all the ingredients," said Lafortune. "It would be at least a
million pills."

TELLTALE LICORICE SMELL

However, police believe pills had been made prior to the lab's discovery
after employees in neighbouring businesses reported the telltale licorice
smell associated with ecstasy production.

Police launched their investigation in October after an RCMP officer in
Toronto was advised by a drug company about a large purchase of sassafras
oil, used in the production of ecstasy. The RCMP then contacted Ottawa
police with the name of the buyer.

Hugel said it's not difficult for someone to set up an ecstasy lab if they
know where to find the chemicals and have the recipe instructions.

RECENT BUSTS

Area cops made several significant drug busts in the past few years:

- - In October, MRC des Collines officers seized 131 marijuana plants, with a
street value of $260,000, from a home on Montee St-Amour. Two people face
drug and weapons charges.

- - A month earlier, the Surete du Quebec arrested three people after 395 kg
of marijuana was seized from a grow operation in Cheneville.

- - Ottawa Police charged a Kanata man in connection with a round of
marijuana busts last January. Quang Nguyen, 38, was charged after police
raided six homes as part of a national crackdown on marijuana grows. Four
other people were arrested and released.

- - In October 2001, MRC des Collines officers seized $400,000 worth of pot
plants from a Val-des-Monts cottage after a tip from a citizen. A
27-year-old man was charged with cultivation of cannabis and possession for
the purpose of trafficking.

- - Just a few days earlier, the Ottawa police tactical team raided an Albion
Rd. residence where they found 1.8 kg of marijuana (with a street value of
$15,000-$20,000), guns, a taser and hydroponic equipment.

- - Aylmer police seized $30,000 in hydroponic equipment and $1.2 million in
marijuana plants and street-ready product during a raid on a Crescent Dr.
home in July 2001. A 39-year-old man was charged with production of
marijuana and possession with the intent to traffic.