POLICE DECONTAMINATE HOUSE AFTER ECSTACY DRUG LAB BUSTED

Winnipeg police were still decontaminating a west-end house yesterday that
doubled as a major ecstasy drug lab, only the second of its kind ever
uncovered in Manitoba.

The unassuming two-storey house at 659 Valour Road was raided by police on
Wednesday night. The clandestine drug lab they uncovered also produced GHB,
which is known as the date rape drug, as well as the popular rave drug ecstasy.

A 33-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

Manitoba Environment, the Health Protection Branch and the Winnipeg Fire
Department's hazardous materials unit also assisted in the raid.

Police spokesman Const. Bob Johnson said police rarely come across ecstasy
labs. The first ecstasy lab in Manitoba was discovered two years ago during
a routine raid of what police believed to be a pot farm on Boyd Avenue.

The police drug unit was tipped off about the house by the vice department.
Johnson said it was a fairly sophisticated operation and drugs were cooked
on both levels of the home. The recovered chemicals are reactive and highly
flammable. Johnson said the house could have exploded if it wasn't
ventilated properly. The street was blocked off all day, but the
neighbourhood was not evacuated.

Only seven people were allowed in the house all day to take pictures and
videotape evidence. The recovery team inside the house wore full protective
gear and ventilators to ward off potential poisonous gases.

It's expected it will take another two days to fully investigate the house,
which may be torn down if it's saturated with volatile chemicals, Johnson said.

'Nervous'

"These kind of labs make me nervous," he said. "No one wants to find one in
their neighbourhood."

Police say more such labs likely exist in Winnipeg and people should be
alert to the strong smell of chemicals, particularly solvents, in their
area. A strong smell accompanied by a buildup of a yellow substance on the
windows can also be an indicator that there is a lab cooking drugs.
Ecstasy, which is also known as X or E, sells for about $30 a hit and is
usually sold in a pill form. It creates a "buzz" that lasts six to eight
hours, heightening sensory awareness and often making people more outgoing.

Canadian police have linked more than a dozen deaths to ecstasy use over
the past couple of years, usually from dehydration.

GHB, or Gamma-hydroxybutyrate, is a liquid form of ecstasy and is sold for
about $15 to $25 a vial.

A neighbour who lives across the street from the Valour drug lab said her
house windows started rattling and she went outside to take a look and saw
the street teeming with fire trucks and police cars.

"All these guys in white protective suits jumped out of their cars, crashed
the door down and threw in a smoke bomb," said the woman, who didn't want
her name used.

The police dragged the man out of the house, she said, then set up a yellow
tarp in the middle of the road and ordered the man to strip naked. They
hosed him down with water and scrubbed him down with a large brush in plain
view of neighbours, she said.

The accused was charged with producing GHB and ecstasy. His name has not
been released.