Pubdate: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 Source: Richmond Review, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2003 Richmond Public Library Contact: http://www.richmondreview.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/704 Author: Martin van den Hemel RICHMOND PART OF SPEED RING A massive seizure of 10 million tablets of pseudoephedrine--a chemical used to produce the drugs methamphetamine and ecstasy--from a Richmond warehouse is linked to an 18-month international police investigation that resulted Tuesday in the arrest of 65 people in 10 cities across North America. On Sunday, April 6, the Burnaby RCMP along with members of the multiple police agency Integrated National Security Enforcement Team raided a Richmond warehouse and seized 675 kilograms of the chemical pseudoephedrine. Police are not releasing the location of the warehouse as their Richmond investigation is continuing. RCMP Sgt. Louise Lafrance said Friday that the local seizure is linked to this week's announced arrests resulting from a joint U.S. and Canada investigation dubbed Operation Northern Star. The RCMP and the U.S.-based Drug Enforcement Administration have been working together for more than a year to identify and shut down what it describes as a "major pseudoephedrine pipeline." Six executives from three Quebec-based chemical companies--G.C. Medical Products, Formulex and Frega Inc.--were arrested this week and police allege they knowingly sold tons of pseudoephedrine to clandestine methamphetamine manufacturers in the United States. Lafrance said more arrests and charges are possible. On Tuesday, police arrested three B.C. residents on U.S. arrest warrants, although their names have not been released. They are facing conspiracy-related charges involving the production of methamphetamine. "We believe that Operation Northern Star has disrupted a major pseudoephedrine pipeline from Canada and sent a clear message to pharmaceutical companies there and elsewhere that they will be held criminally responsible for dispensing their products in the United States for illegal use," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff said. Massive quantities of pseudoephedrine were being manufactured in Montreal, stockpiled in Ottawa warehouses and then smuggled into the U.S. via border crossings in Quebec and Ontario. Lafrance said police seized eight tonnes (8,000 kilograms) of pseudoephedrine from an Ottawa warehouse and found that four tonnes had previously been transported to Las Vegas from that same warehouse. The quantity of pseudoephedrine seized could have produced 300 million doses of speed. In addition to 11 Canadian arrests, the RCMP has seized $1.6 million in cash an a luxury vehicle as proceeds of crime. Police aren't indicating why the pseudoephedrine may have been stockpiled in Richmond, saying only that their investigation hasn't wrapped up yet. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex