RCMP dismantle huge ecstasy lab in Scarborough
As soon as I heard Finch and Brimley I feared the worse for my Uncle Benny..
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RCMP dismantle huge ecstasy lab
Stock possibly worth up to $40 million found in east-end home
October 20, 2007
Amy Fuller and Josh Wingrove
Staff Reporter
An ecstasy lab was found today in the garage of the same house where Toronto police discovered a marijuana grow-up last year.
Officers seized about 2 million units of ecstasy from what they said was a pill-pressing lab on Pipers Green Rd., in the Brimley Rd. and Finch Ave. E. area, around 1 p.m. today.
“This is the end of the production line,” said Insp. Rick Penney, the officer in charge of operations for the RCMP’s GTA drug squad. “The next step is in the mouth.”
Penney would not say how much the pills were worth but since the drugs can sell for $20 a unit, the seizure could be worth up to $40 million on the street.
The driveway was lined with cardboard boxes and plastic bags filled with ecstasy tablets and powder while officers dressed in white suits sorted through the lit garage.
RCMP Supt. Ron Allen said officers raided the premises following a bust in a car they stopped as part of an ongoing investigation on Friday night. Three adult men were arrested in connection with the van bust, police said.
Soon after pulling over the car, investigators surrounded the home, which police said was also a former marijuana grow-op. Officers entered with a warrant around noon today, where they found the large ecstasy lab and two more men were arrested at the house. The ecstasy was likely headed for the United States, Allen said.
“It wasn’t something that we happened to dance across. It was an ongoing investigation,” said Allen, head of the Toronto Drug Section.
While stopping short of confirming it as the largest drug bust in Toronto history, Sgt. Brent Hill, commander of the RCMP chemical diversion unit, said last night: “It’s on the top shelf of large drug busts.”
RCMP Clandestine Laboratory Team investigators are sorting through the volatile contents of the house this weekend, under supervision from Health Canada officials. One nearby house has been evacuated this weekend as a precaution, said RCMP Insp. Rick Penney, who is leading the on-site investigation.
The house was busted as a marijuana grow-up in May 2006. “The pots from the grow-op are still on the side of the house,” Penney said at the scene.
The house still belongs to the person who owned it during the previous bust but it was being rented out and police said they have no indication if the owner is involved at this point. Neighbours reported seeing people going in and out of the house, but said no family lived there.
Tracey Wilson was watching the action from behind yellow police tape down the street, where she was out walking her dog last night. She remembers being surprised by last year’s drug bust, so she said she felt very “strange” this time around.
“It’s very nice here,” she said. “You’d never know this was going to happen.”
Toronto residents Yan Shi, 31, Wei Qion Ma, 29, Yao Quan Jian, 20, and Shu Qiang Wu, 37, face drug charges. New York resident Wan Shan Ling, 50, was also charged.
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source:
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/268808
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Palm Trees > Pine Trees , Sand > Snow
Last edited by dEsidEL on Oct-21-2007 at 05:50
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