Pubdate: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun CANADIAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS GO GLOBAL Materials For Deadly Drugs Are Legally Imported By Criminals When former Surrey resident Gurdish Singh (Ricky) Toor was arrested in India last August, police there said he was the kingpin of an international drug cartel linked to China and Canada. The 29-year-old remains locked up in Delhi's Tihar jail where B.C. members of the RCMP's drug enforcement unit recently interviewed him and other Canadians allegedly involved in global drug trafficking rings. Insp. Brian Cantera, who heads RCMP E Division's drug squad, confirmed that a local team made the trip to India in December to talk to Toor and others imprisoned there. While investigators here are tight-lipped about what transpired during their meetings, Canadian police do say that drug traffickers are going global in their desire to reap bigger profits from precursor chemicals used for deadly synthetic drugs like crystal meth and ecstasy. Criminals in countries like India and Canada are the new powerbrokers as they can get their hands on large quantities of chemicals that can then be exported -- legally in some cases -- to Canada. Police in India say Toor was living a lavish, drug-financed life of fancy apartments and expensive cars when he was busted seven months ago. They claim Toor had 100 kilograms of ephedrine worth millions of dollars that was about to be shipped to North America. Delhi Deputy Commissioner Ravindra Yadav told The Vancouver Sun this week that Toor "was caught red-handed." He is in custody and will soon go to trial in a case that is expected to continue for months, said Yadav, who works out of the Southwest Delhi police station. The Indian case will focus on the connections uncovered in that country and ignore the tentacles said to reach across the globe. "He was a very hard nut to crack and he would not disclose many things," Yadav said. "The Indian connections we could follow, but not the foreign connections. Of course the Canadians interviewed him and might be following those." Yadav said Toor's method was simple -- send the precursor chemicals for meth and ecstasy to North America "through sea containers and through air parcels." Toor is not the only Canadian in India alleged to have been involved in the production of lucrative synthetic drugs for the international market. Just days after Toor was nabbed, a Brampton, Ont., man identified as Harjinder Singh Bassi was also arrested allegedly trying to ship more than 550 kilograms of ephedrine to Canada. A third Canadian, identified only as Rajinder Singh, was arrested in October when Indian police raided an underground laboratory believed to be operated with the assistance of Chinese nationals. Two tonnes of chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and laboratory equipment were seized. Yadav said the sophistication of the operation linked to Toor was surprising. The young Canadian, who had been living with his family in Surrey before heading to India in August 2004, had allegedly set up front companies to cover his tracks. Police in Canada say organized crime is moving into the production of chemical drugs because the profit margin is even higher than it is with marijuana and cocaine. And many of the products needed to produce synthetic drugs are legally imported into the country, even though they are being used to make illegal substances. Canadian laws on precursor chemicals are less restrictive than American legislation, meaning Canada is a more desirable country for organized crime to bring in its product. Several precursor chemicals used to make meth and ecstacy were banned or regulated in January, 2003, but others -- like methylamine hydrochloride and sodium borohydride -- have no restrictions on their importation. That frustrates Cantera, who says inevitably large shipments of the chemicals are ending up in the hands of organized crime groups. "One of the biggest issues right now is the abundance of precursors which are currently coming into the country," he said. "And these are utilized in the whole of the process for methamphetamines and some of the chemical drugs that are being produced. I would like to see more control mechanisms in place so that ultimately we could prevent that from happening." Health Canada is the federal agency that decides which chemicals are regulated. But it won't regulate new precursors unless there is evidence of a great need to do so, spokesman Jason Bouzanis said. "Should evidence arise that suggests significant misuse of these chemicals and risk to public health and safety, Health Canada would take action accordingly," he said. "Health Canada does not currently have evidence to suggest that the health and safety risks associated with these chemicals warrant control through regulation." Police are frustrated because they know the precursor chemicals are ending up in the hands of the province's crime groups -- biker gangs and Asian organized crime in particular. "Right now, they simply are brought into the country with really no means for the police to protect society," Cantera said. His specialized team has enough to do in tracking the substances that are already illegal, let alone those still unregulated. "How do you follow a legal substance when there are so many illegal substances out there?" he asked. Then there are the legal questions -- if you are following a legal substance, "what are you doing following it?" "The real difficulty is trying to find the resources which are very strapped at this time and to minimize the ability of organized crime to produce this stuff," Cantera said. RCMP Sgt. Doug Culver, the Ottawa-based coordinator of synthetic drug operations, said police work with legitimate Canadian chemical distributors and other partners to identify fly-by-night companies starting up to bring in chemicals for illicit drugs. A national conference of interested parties is being held in Stratford, Ont., next week to discuss the current trends and problems with "chemical diversion," Culver said. "Ninety-nine percent of all chemical producers, retailers and wholesalers are all on board with us," he said, adding that many of the tips about organized crime come from the legitimate businesses who see what is going on. Some of the chemical drugs are sold to teens as harmless party drugs, but they are anything but, police say. Culver said most of the legal precursor chemicals being brought in by organized crime are coming from China. Just adding methylamine hydrochloride to the list of regulated chemicals won't completely solve the problem, Culver said, as some of the large shipments have been smuggled in as something else. And the groups making meth and ecstasy are getting so creative that they will find new precursors to take the place of whatever becomes harder to import through new regulations. The Internet is not helping as orders can be placed internationally with the click of a mouse and a cash deposit in an off-shore bank account. "It is a real cat-and-mouse game trying to stay ahead of the cooks and the smugglers," Culver said. Over the past two years in B.C. at least two teenage ecstasy-related deaths were recorded. And crystal meth is even worse, according to police and addiction specialists. Forty-four B.C. residents died of crystal meth overdoses in 2004. It is one of the most addictive substances and one of the hardest habits to break. "It is such a deadly drug," Cantera said. In fact, Sgt. Scott Rintoul, the RCMP's drug awareness officer, recent told reporters after a Richmond chemical lab bust that younger and younger kids are trying methamphetamines, crystal meth and ecstasy. Rintoul stood with stacks of seized chemicals, pill presses, drugs, cash and weapons around him and said: "This illustrates that we are in an era of chemical drugs." Faith St. John, of the Canada Border Services Agency, said officials try to keep an eye on shipments of precursor chemicals that are not yet banned or regulated. "If our officers come across a shipment of legally imported precursor chemicals that cause us concern for some reason, they will forward information to the appropriate agency," she said. An example was in 2005 when the CBSA, working with Transport Canada, noticed a 600-kilo shipment of sodium borohydride, in 17 large containers, coming into B.C. from Shanghai. While the chemical can be legally imported and has legitimate uses, it is also a major component of ecstasy. The RCMP was told that the chemical was headed to a private residence in Richmond. Two houses owned by realtor Albert Wai Ming Luk were raided in September 2005 and drug labs uncovered with enough chemicals to produce $300 million worth of the illegal drug, according to police. Luk and four others face a series of charges related to production of controlled substances for trafficking. They are due to go to trial in Richmond Provincial Court March 26. The clandestine labs -- operating in quiet residential area unbeknownst to neighbours -- could have had a devastating impact if there had been an explosion. Clean-up crews in full body covers were called in to dismantle the labs. Police said an entire city block could have been taken out by what they uncovered if it had exploded. Despite the potential for disaster, sodium borohydride, like methylamine hydrochloride, remains an unregulated drug that can be imported without a permit. Both the chemicals are controlled substances in the U.S. The RCMP say that means that some B.C. crime groups are motivated to get the chemicals here to smuggle them across the border to U.S. counterparts who want to produce their own synthetic drugs. St. John said that over the past year across Canada, there have been about 100 legally declared imports of methylamine hydrochloride. Over the last four months, there have been four shipments totalling just over 4,000 kilograms, she said. Sodium borohydride is harder to track, she said, because it does not have its own code, but is included in a broader category of chemicals. And nobody is keeping track of pill presses, which are perfectly legal - -- and very easy -- to import. "The importation of pill presses -- which are used in the production of ecstasy -- are not controlled in Canada," St. John said. The tools and resources needed for the growing synthetic drug trade mean traditional organized crime groups in B.C. have had to build alliances and relationships with other groups. Insp. Gary Shinkaruk, who heads the RCMP's outlaw motorcycle gang unit, said even the Hells Angels are having to work with other criminal organizations to get the chemicals they need. "There are many diverse criminal organizations that are working within British Columbia. Their tentacles reach outside of the province and also internationally," he said. "We are talking large amounts of money." Certainly it was the money that attracted Gurdish Toor, the young B.C. man who could now spend years in an Indian jail cell. "What Gurdish Toor told us is that there were other people also who might be coming from Canada and trying to do this because there is a lot of money in this narcotics trade," Yadav said. "He was only one of them. There are many others." METHAMPHETAMINES: A GROWING PROBLEM Here is a sampling of some of the larger meth lab busts in the Lower Mainland since 2005: 1 FEB. 16, 2007 Ditch in the 18500-block of 28th Ave., Cloverdale (near East Kensington Elementary) Meth lab dump -- four barrels 2 FEB. 6, 2007 182nd St. and 70th Ave., Surrey Meth lab dump -- barrels, buckets and garbage bags containing dangerous chemicals 3 FEB. 6, 2007 7300-block 194th Street, Surrey Meth lab dump -- ten 45-gallon drums of chemicals and 9 smaller containers 4 JAN. 25, 2007 Flood Falls Road, Hope Meth lab dump -- eight 5-gallon buckets containing hazardous materials 5 JAN. 29, 2007 3671 Raymond Ave., Richmond Secondary sites: 107-7480 Gilbert Road contained nearly $3 million worth of street-ready drugs; 67-11571 Thorpe Road also searched Millions of dollars in illegal drugs and chemical precursors, including $500,000 worth of methamphetamine, $150,000 worth of ecstasy powder and 9 pill presses 6 JAN. 17, 2007 70A and 234 St. near Williams Park, Langley Meth lab dump -- fourteen 20-litre pails of meth waste 7 JAN. 4, 2007 7900-block Nelson Ave., Burnaby Meth lab 8 DEC. 23, 2006 17251 Westminster Highway, Richmond Drug lab -- containers and cookware 9 NOV. 22, 2006 2400-block Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam Meth lab including barrels of chemicals and marijuana growing operation 10 OCTOBER 2006 9911 Greenlees Ct., Richmond One kilo of methamphetamine, 28 kilos of dried marijuana, $100,000 in cash and $7,000 US plus a $30,000 bank draft, ammunition for an AR15 assault rifle, loaded 9mm pistol, 3,400 mature marijuana plants, commercial grade pill press and other gear for meth lab. 11 JULY 2006 23200-block Lougheed Highway, between Tamarack Crescent & 105 Ave. near Golden Ears Chrysler, Maple Ridge "Enough chemicals to blow up 4 blocks:" crystal meth and ecstasy chemicals 12 JUNE 22, 2006 33600-block Morey Rd., Abbotsford Meth lab -- chemicals, lab equipment 13 JUNE 6, 2006 Pemberton Hill near the intersection of Bradner and Marsh-McCormick Roads, Abbotsford Four drums of waste from meth lab 14 MAY 25, 2006 Shed behind house in 46000-block Airport Road, Chilliwack Chemicals and equipment for meth lab and growing operation 15 MAY 9, 2006 3rd floor suite at 1650 E 5th Ave., Vancouver Meth lab 16 APRIL 26, 2006 Area near 212 Street and 12 Avenue, Langley Meth lab dump -- 30 pails of acetone 17 MARCH 6, 2006 Glen Valley at 256th St and 84th Ave, Langley Meth lab dump -- 4 barrels of toxic chemicals 18 MARCH 6, 2006 Murrayville, in the 3100-block of 232nd St., Langley Meth lab dump -- barrels of toxic chemicals 19 FEB. 11, 2006 100-block Montreal St., Victoria (beside daycare in James Bay) Meth lab and chemicals 20 SEPTEMBER 23, 2005 2500-block Lefeuvre Road, Abbotsford Large meth lab with ability to manufacture 12 kilos of meth every 48 hours and $2.5 million worth of methamphetamine 21 JUNE 2005 4669 Belmont Ave., Vancouver Meth lab with ability to produce 4.5 kilograms of meth every 12 hours; 85 litres of thinner chemical, 40 litres muriatic acid, a barrel with 80 kilograms of red phosphorous, other chemicals and equipment. 22 MARCH 19, 2005 5 - 1615 Shaughnessy St., Port Coquitlam Sophisticated lab Research by Kate Bird, Vancouver Sun - --- MAP posted-by: Derek