Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jul 2004
Source: Liberal, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2004, Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing
Contact:  http://www.yorkregion.com/yr/newscentre/liberal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2347
Authors: Ashley Joannou and Martin Derbyshire

YORK POLICE SHUT DOWN $10M ECSTASY LAB

Lab Discovered By Firefighters Responding To Blaze

Residents in the 16th Avenue and McCowan Road area were shocked 
firefighters found a $10-million ecstasy lab in their quiet end of Markham 
Saturday.

"This is a good neighbourhood," said Rosario Ragas, who, since 1985, has 
lived blocks from the Manhattan Drive home where York Regional Police found 
at least 50 kilograms of powdered ecstasy ready to be pressed into pills.

"I would never have guessed they'd find something like this here."

It was the sharp eye of another resident concerned about smoke coming from 
the garage early Saturday morning that led to the discovery.

Markham firefighters responded to a call around 8:15 a.m. Saturday. When 
they entered the home, they found the sophisticated ecstasy manufacturing 
operation.

"(Firefighters) went in to investigate the fire and found a working ecstasy 
lab," York Regional Police Det. Rob Cullen said. "It is very lucky that the 
fire was caught. It could have caused a serious explosion. That house would 
have been a crater."

Police officers dressed in blue protective suits and masks, aided by Health 
Canada officials, were continuing to remove the drugs and dangerous 
chemicals such as acetone and methyl hydrate Monday.

A police spokesperson said the careful cleanup could continue as long as a 
week.

Investigators estimate the drugs seized could be worth as much as $10 
million on the street.

Ecstasy can reduce a person's inhibitions, cause hallucinations and a 
feeling of euphoria.

The fire, along with fumes from the drug-making process, left much of the 
house either destroyed or contaminated.

"There is no way to describe what is in that house, it's just a mess," Det. 
Cullen added.

Police believe two people, one of them as young as eight, fled the home 
before the firefighters entered.

The town may have to be called in to rip up the home's pipes after waste 
chemicals were dumped down the drain and into the sewer system, Det. Cullen 
added.

Residents in the area say the house was sold last month and since then, it 
has remained fairly well kept, although they never noticed anyone moving in.

The possibility of an explosion and chemicals flowing into the sewer system 
had Joanne Terzo concerned, as she watched officers clean up the scene Monday.

"Are they ever going to be able to clean this up properly?" she asked. 
"It's disgusting."

"It's terrible," added Joanne Merlino. "We all have kids growing up in this 
neighbourhood and they're making this garbage here. Something has to be 
done to stop them."

With the increasing number of marijuana grow labs police are finding 
throughout the area, neighbour Sebastian Terzo said he wasn't surprised the 
designer drug manufacturers have set up shop.

He said stiffer sentences for the drug makers, a position Police Chief 
Armand La Barge has long promoted, may be the answer.

"We have to put them away for a long time," he said. "A slap on the wrist 
and a few months away is not going to do it."

The investigation is continuing and police are seeking help identifying the 
residents of the home. One suspect is described as an Asian male, 
approximately 40 years old.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 1-866-876-5423 or Crime 
Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
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MAP posted-by: Beth