Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jun 2000
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2000 The Toronto Star
Contact:  One Yonge St., Toronto ON, M5E 1E6
Fax: (416) 869-4322
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Forum: http://www.thestar.com/editorial/disc_board/
Author: Jim Rankin, Staff Reporter
Bookmark: additional articles on Ecstasy are available at 
http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm

ECSTASY RAIDS COLLAR SEVEN

Police Say Ring Manufactured Drug In Secret Labs

Seven people face a string of drug-related charges in an alleged 
ecstasy-manufacturing ring Toronto police say was capable of producing 
millions of dollars worth of the popular drug.

Warrants have been issued for two others, a man and a woman, both in their 20s.

Although just four ounces of MDMA powder - pure, uncut ecstasy - was 
seized, police say they have confiscated enough chemicals to manufacture 
200,000 ecstasy tablets, worth an estimated $4 million to $7.5 million on 
the street.

Ecstasy is an amphetamine-based stimulant. Clandestine labs, shifted from 
one location to another, were capable of producing a kilogram of MDMA every 
two days, police allege in a case synopsis.

Charges against the seven, all of whom are in their 20s and unemployed, 
include conspiracy to manufacture and distribute the drug and possession of 
the proceeds of crime.

It's alleged the ring is run by a 25-year-old Toronto man who was arrested 
at his mother's home during dawn raids at 15 locations across Toronto and 
York Region last Thursday.

Five other men and one woman were also taken into custody in the Project 
Ecstasy raids, which were led by the clandestine lab unit of Toronto police 
special investigation services and involved 50 officers from Toronto, Peel 
and York. Officers from the unit spent two years looking into the alleged ring.

Police from the lab unit, wearing protective suits and breathing masks, 
raided three labs - one an upscale, rented farmhouse in rural Markham and 
two other labs in the Toronto area.

Police have recently made a number of large ecstasy busts but until now had 
made little progress rooting out the local sources.

By last night, all seven of the accused had been granted bail that ranged 
from $150,000 for the group's alleged ringleader to $2,500.

Police are expected to provide more details today.

With files from Dale Anne Freed
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