Wow imagine if that was in say Texas! 12 months for MDMA manufacture thats crazy no wonder all the labs are in Holland its almost a severer DUI type punishment. madness!
METRO VANCOUVER - Richmond RCMP said Thursday a raid on a River Road home last week uncovered the largest ecstasy production plant ever found in B.C.
Two senior Mounties who disclosed new details about the raid warned that such operations pose a danger to the residential neighbourhoods in which they're located.
Insp. Brian Cantera, who is in charge of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver Drug Section, described the Richmond operation as a "super lab."
"A super lab is defined as a clandestine lab which is capable of producing more than 10 kilograms of finished product," Cantera said. "In this investigation, this lab had well over 100 kilograms of crystallized product, not in pill form, and over 200 kilograms of pressed tablets," said Cantera.
The pressed tablets added up to 750,000 pills of ecstasy.
The lab was equipped with two fully automated pill presses capable of producing thousands of pills an hour.
Several fully automatic weapons were found as well as a quantity of incendiary and explosive devices that police believe could have been used as booby traps or as defence against persons trying to hijack its production.
RCMP Chief Supt. Bob Harriman said the Friday raid, which led to two other Richmond premises being raided Monday, was a "significant advancement in combatting organized crime in British Columbia."
Clearly pleased with the outcome of the Monday raids, which found two marijuana-growing operations and further explosives, Harriman said the labs posed an immense risk to neighbours and to the RCMP officers, firefighters, paramedics and municipal employees involved in dismantling them.
Five persons were arrested after raids were conducted at 21880 River Road, 23281 Gilley, and 8440 Odlin Crescent, all in Richmond.
Further arrests are anticipated, police said.
Cantera said the labs were operated by trusted members of an organized crime ring.
"The profits in the sale of these illicit drugs are extreme," he said.
He then drew an oblique reference to the numbers of violent incidents and gangland murders in Vancouver this year.
"As seen in Vancouver over the past several months, there is often a great deal of violence associated to the control of these illicit activities, which again poses a safety problem to the public," said Cantera.
"And the negative impacts don't end there.
"The environmental damage in this investigation is indisputable," he said, noting that the lab was located next to a bog and to the Fraser River.
Municipal crews probing the River Road property have found evidence of soil contamination and Health Canada has been called in to assess it.
Police say that for every kilogram of ecstasy or methamphetamine produced there is seven to 10 kilograms of toxic waste left as residue.
Cantera said the public should play its part in closing down the illegal labs.
"If you see something that looks suspicious call the police," he said.
Meanwhile, Surrey RCMP have released details of a small crystal meth lab discovered in the 5300-block of 125A Street, within 100 metres of a church, an elementary school and a preschool daycare centre.
On June 16, the detachment's auto theft unit followed a stolen vehicle to the residence and arrested the male driver, who was hiding in the home's crawl space. While in the home, police saw evidence of possible stolen property, including driver's licences and other forms of identification.
A search warrant was issued and the home was searched the next day, during which investigators found computers containing thousands of credit card numbers, dozens of credit cards, driver's licences, point-of-sale terminals, card readers and SIN cards and a large quantity of tools belonging to a Burnaby construction company.
They also found 20 litres of acetone, a chemical used in the manufacture of crystal meth.
Surrey RCMP Sgt. Roger Morrow said police believe the home, on a large lot, was a transit point where residents would exchange crystal meth for stolen property.
Charges against three individuals were being processed, said Morrow.
TORONTO -- Police used some new-fangled gumshoe detective work to make a "shocking" ecstasy bust
- the largest in Canadian history - in the Toronto area. By tracing the sale of chemicals commonly used in hot tubs, deodorants and air fresheners - which also happen to be key ingredients for illicit drugs - cops uncovered a complex, organized ecstasy ring and with it 1,000 kilograms of liquid and powder MDMA (ecstasy).
The seized powdered drug was 96% pure and packed in vacuum-sealed bags, likely ready for shipment to the U.S. It's worth $100 million but has a potential street value of half a billion dollars and is more than the total amount seized in all of the U.S. in 2003, police said.
"The quantity is shocking," said Det. Don Cardwell of the vice squad. "I just hope (ecstasy production) isn't about to get out of hand like the marijuana labs."
York police, led by Det.-Const. Doug Tetrault, developed a new policing technique in July and began monitoring the sale of chemicals like safrole and piperonal which are precursors in the production of MDMA.
The method reaped big benefits for police on Dec. 6 as the chemicals were traced to two individuals, which led to two Toronto homes and a house in suburban Markham.
In total, three homes and four storage units in Toronto and Markham were raided over three days last week. Police also found a quantity of hash and some cash.
Seven people, mostly from B.C., have been arrested.
Why Making Bunk Pills Pays
A police investigation has revealed that drugs seized in May, which were believed to be ecstasy tablets, contained no illegal chemical compounds.
tbnewswatch file photo
A police investigation has revealed that drugs seized in May, which were believed to be ecstasy tablets, contained no illegal chemical compounds.
Police charged Andrew Woolcock, 33, in May with trafficking when they found what appeared to be $2.8 million worth of ecstasy pills in a parked transport.
Those pills, however, have since been discovered to be what the Thunder Bay Police Service describes as counterfeit ecstasy.
Police spokesman Chris Adams said in most drug seizures officers can get enough probable cause to lay a charge based on the appearance of a substance.
"The drugs in question were packaged like ecstasy," he said. "They had the same kind of markings, appearance. By all accounts, everything appeared to be an illegal drug, so the charge of trafficking for the amount of drugs that were on board that vehicle was the correct charge at the time."
After a drug is seized, police send samples to Health Canada for testing; the process can take weeks.
The pills in question did not have chemicals or compounds that are illegal under Canadian law, but they do have the ability to give a very similar effect, but not as potent, as true ecstasy, said Adams.
"But enough to an inexperienced user to think they are using real ecstasy," he said.
Woolcock has been out on bail and is due in court on July 27.
Federal prosecutor Ron Poirier, who handles major drug cases in this area, said the charge of trafficking will most likely be dropped.
If the pills aren’t on the list of illegal drugs, there is no reason to continue the case, he said.
Poirier added charges can be laid if someone is caught selling what they claim to be illegal drugs. However, in this case, the arrest was made after a police search of a parked transport and not during an attempted drug transaction.
Counterfeit drugs aren’t new to police, said Adams.
"We know, for example, in the United States they are running into this more and more. It’s probably a cheaper drug to manufacture than the real thing, which means your profit margin is higher."
It’s also a way to skirt around the law by not using drugs on the controlled substance list in Canada, he added.
The chemicals used in the pills are not being released by the police and Adams said even though the pills aren’t ecstasy, there is still a risk to the public, like any other street drug, since they weren’t manufactured as a pharmaceutical under strict lab or factory conditions.
"You’ve got to think about the creativity that goes into manufacturing this type of drug," Adams said. "You’re creating something that can give similar effect … but you’re using ingredients that you’ve selected that are not on the controlled substance list."
The government does review what is on their controlled substance list and will update it from time to time.
Not in English but a decent sized dutch E / Speed lab here.
Check out the glassware and the modified car exaust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6eRQLZJ084