Pubdate: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN) Copyright: 2002 The StarPhoenix Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400 Author: Darren Bernhardt SASKATOON TEEN'S HOST FAMILY RAIDED BY RCMP SASKATOON -- A Saskatoon teenager on a student exchange in Quebec got more than he bargained for when the host family's house was raided as part of a massive U.S.-led bust against online trafficking of the "date-rape" drug. As a result of the incident, the chairman of the public school board plans to review the division's policies regarding student exchanges and background checks of host families. The boy, a student from Marion Graham Collegiate, was staying with a family in the St-Etienne-de-Lauzon region, near Quebec City. He was wakened at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday by Quebec City RCMP acting on a tip from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the U.S. They knocked and rushed in with a search warrant, claiming a computer at the home was used to make transactions involving GHB (gamma-hydroxybutrate). GHB is a mixture of common industrial chemicals that the U.S. Congress has outlawed. The drug and its derivatives GBL and 1,4 BD (butanediol, a GHB chemical cousin that turns to GHB in the body) act as central nervous system depressants and cause drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and loss of inhibition. Butanediol is used as an industrial solvent and is also included in supplements sold under names such as Thunder Nectar, InnerG and Zen. Butanediol is used to make polyurethane, Spandex, moisturizers and legal drugs. It is still legal in Canada, though it has been implicated in at least one death and a number of date rapes in this country. In the U.S. 72 deaths from the drug and its derivatives have been documented. "He had no idea that anything was happening in the home before this happened. Absolutely nothing," the Saskatoon boy's mother said in an interview. The family did not want his name -- or theirs -- used in the story over concerns someone's safety would be jeopardized. "He's safe and we're safe and that's all that matters to us," said the mother. "I just want to make it stay that way." According to the boy's father, who has had extensive discussions with the RCMP since the incident, the police ensured the children in the home were treated with care and even dropped them at school before the search of the home was undertaken. "He was never in any danger," the mother added. "It wasn't that they found a house full of drugs. There was nothing in the home." "To the best of our knowledge, none of the transgressions were taking place out of the home. They were in a warehouse in another area of the city," said the father. The woman who lived at the home and her estranged husband, who no longer resided there but kept in contact, were both arrested. She was later released, according to Quebec City RCMP, but the man -- Daniel Pelchat --- is being held in Montreal, pending an extradition hearing to face charges in the U.S. RCMP have called the man the date-rape kingpin, alleging he is a leader in a huge Canada-U.S. ring that made and shipped GBL around the world. The ring sold kits for $280 to convert GBL into GHB. Pelchat's operation was getting 160 orders a day. The arrest of Pelchat and two other people near Quebec City was part of a sweep that included 115 dealers in 84 cities last week. Pelchat was indicted Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y., on many counts of importing and distributing GBL. U.S. attorney James Kennedy has called Pelchat one of the biggest GHB providers in the world. The incident has not shaken the Saskatoon family's faith in the student exchange program operated by the public school board. "We are confident in the checks that were done by the host school. They interviewed the family -- an exhaustive interview for about two hours in their home," said the father. "We have also talked to the RCMP (in Quebec City) and these had no prior (criminal) records, so a police check would not have picked anything up." He said a Saskatoon teacher, who also made the excursion for the exchange (but is residing at another house) also met with the boy's host family and found them quite nice. "He was always treated well in the home and very much liked the mom and the other children in the family. That's all that we could ask for -- that he was treated well," said the boy's mother. The best way to describe the situation is that everything came together at the wrong time, she said. "It's one of those fluke chances," added the father. "But we are still 100 per cent behind the exchange program. We realize the advantages that it gives a person from Canada to be bilingual. This fluke incident shouldn't reflect negatively on the program." The boy remains on the exchange, staying at the same home as his Saskatoon teacher until a new host family can be found. Still, public school board chairman Gordon Wyant wants a review of policies "to ensure they adequately protect our kids. Having said that, we've always been comfortable for what they are. "This kind of a thing wouldn't have been caught through any conventional search. But we're always concerned about the safety of these kids, whether they're on an exchange or in our schools, so we will look into what more we might do." The day following the drug busts, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the bust, called Operation Web Slinger, encompassed investigations in St. Louis; Detroit and San Diego, Calif.; Mobile, Ala. and Sparta, Tenn.; Buffalo, N.Y. and Quebec City. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth