Massive meth lab bust

(Update)

The Ontario Provincial Police are call it the biggest methamphetamine bust in Ontario history. Five people from north and east of Toronto have been arrested and about $40 million worth of drugs have been seized. Lisa Hepfner was at the Thursday morning news conference and has the details.

This is video that the OPP shot in late July inside one of the drug labs they found. You can hear heavy breathing because the officers are in full HAZMAT gear. They have to bring Health Canada chemists to the crime scene.

Detective Sergeant Jim Walker of OPP Drug Enforcement said: “You look at something like this. We have no idea what’s in there, some intermediate product, or chemical waste.”

Chief Superintendent Mike Armstrong of OPP Organized crime headed the news conference: “At a pill pressing lab in Campbellford, more than 110 kilograms of pure meth was seized. That site was guarded with a bear trap shrouded with leaves. A second pill press lab was located in Aurora. A storage locker in Markham was also searched, resulting in the seizure of 34-hundred kilos of chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine.”

Three of the labs produced raw meth.

Det. Sgt. Walker: “The raw amphetamine goes into lasagna trays like this in multiple kilos. Looks like peanut brittle.”

Two other sites had these machines, for pressing powder into pills.

This is just a fraction of the meth police seized in this bust. They got 14 kilos of powder, more than 110 thousand pills, and enough pure meth to make another four million pills.

Detective Staff Sergeant Dominic Chong of the OPP Asian Organized Crime: “The Canadian population is not, even the drug addict population isn’t big enough to justify that many pills being consumed in Canada.”

In fact, other countries see Canada as a primary source of synthetic drugs.

Chief Supt. Armstrong: “In international police circles, the department can tell you they’re concerned about large-scale labs here in Canada.”

And the labs are often associated with Asian gangs.

Det. Staff Sgt. Chong: “One of the issues that we’re faced with is the import of chemical materials used in these drugs. A lot of them come from China, are produced in China. Via cultural connections, it’s easier to get their hands on the chemicals.”

Many of the chemicals are legal to import.

Constable Pierre Chamberlain, Ontario Provincial Police: “Other governments have really clamped down on the ability to import and control the substances themselves. That’s something we don’t have here and part of the cause and makes it so easy for it to be introduced into Canada.”

The drug officers say this is a scary trend.

Det. Sgt. Walker: “I’ve seen first hand, meth is an insidious drug. It’s one of the lowest rehabilitation rates for a controlled substance. It’s instantly addictive. Your first hit, you can consider yourself addicted.”