BURGLARS LEAD POLICE TO 'LARGE' ECSTACY LAB

Pills Marketed To Teens, Investigators Believe

(Markham) - A York Regional Police break and enter investigation on
the Scarborough border led investigators to a $21-million ecstasy lab
Friday. At about 6 p.m., York officers working on an unrelated case in
the McCowan Road and Steeles Avenue area saw three men breaking into
60 Penmarric Place.

While arresting the burglars, York officers discovered an ecstasy lab,
notified Toronto police and secured the scene until they arrived.

Toronto officers, armed with a warrant, raided the home, seizing 214
kilograms of MDMA, which can be made into ecstasy, as well as 140,000
ecstasy pills worth $21.4 million on the streets, Toronto police said.

Four tablet presses and 26 tableting dies were also
seized.

The drugs were to be sold in the GTA, said deputy chief Bruce Herridge
following a news conference in Scarborough yesterday, declining to
discuss what York officers were investigating when they saw the break-in.

"I would say it's being sold anywhere in this area where it's
reasonable to move that product," he said. "It's not being shipped to
points in other provinces. It's being produced here to be distributed
here."

Tony Warr, Toronto's deputy chief, called the seizure "very large",
adding the multi-coloured pills were being stamped with images of
Tweety birds and dolphins.

Deputy chief Warr said he believes the hard drug trade is being
financed by trafficking in softer drugs such as marijuana.

"It's my belief that the source of the raw material is as a result of
the exportation of home grown marijuana and the cash is used to
purchase this kind of material to then process and distribute again,"
he said.

The multi-coloured ecstasy pills are designed to be more attractive to
young people, deputy chief Herridge said.

While deputy chief Herridge said he wasn't at liberty to discuss a
connection of those charged Friday to any other groups, he did allege
they have ties to York Region and have provided police with addresses
they have frequented here.

"You don't engage in an operation of this size without a distribution
network and a supply network," he said. "This is more than just four
people."

Asked about the target market of ecstasy, which is often associated
with rave culture, deputy chief Herridge said he believes teenagers
may be hearing about the drug as early as their first year of high
school.

"I could say upper teens only but we wouldn't be surprised to find out
that as kids get into the high schools in Grade 9 -- they're 13, 14
years of age -- they've been exposed to it," he said.