Pubdate: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2004 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Lena Sin Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/record+seizure 21 MILLION ECSTASY DOSES SEIZED IN POLICE 'COUP' Three Lower Mainland Men Face Charges After Record Port Seizure Linked To Toronto, China The discovery of 66 jugs filled with a yellow liquid led to the first local seizure of an imported controlled substance used to make ecstasy. Police are calling the discovery of MDP2P in soy sauce jugs on a cargo ship from Shenzhen, China, a major coup. The jugs contained enough MDP2P to make 21.2 million doses of the party drug. The discovery triggered an RCMP investigation that shattered an organized criminal plot and led to six raids where drugs and $800,000 was seized. "A seizure of this type of chemical -- taking this off the streets -- is a huge, huge coup," said Sgt. Dave Goddard of the Vancouver RCMP drug section. The seizure was nearly 10 times larger than a record 2003 seizure in which police found 2.6 million doses of ecstasy in a container of potato starch from the Netherlands. Daniela Evans of the Canada Border Services Agency said the amount of liquid precursor seized was enough for criminals to manufacture 21.2 million doses. The chemical arrived in Delta Port on July 21 on a ship that was meant to have 450 cartons of rice noodles and 400 cartons of soy sauce. But when it was discovered that the jugs contained a total of 1,800 kilograms of the precursor substance, RCMP were immediately contacted to place the shipment under surveillance. What followed was a month-long investigation in which RCMP tracked the delivery of MDP2P to a Vancouver storage facility. The suspects who picked up the substance were involved in a multi-drug smuggling operation between Vancouver and Toronto. A joint investigation between RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, the Combined Special Forces Enforcement Unit and Health Canada resulted in six seizures of cash and illegal drugs from various locations in the Lower Mainland and Toronto between Aug. 14 and Aug. 20. In total, $730,280 Cdn and $72,090 US in cash were seized as well as 650 cartons of cigarettes, 725 kg of marijuana, 71 kg of powdered ecstasy and 12 kg of cocaine. Li Sum Peter, 54, of Burnaby, Feng Go Fu, 38, of Richmond, and Tsang Bryan King Chun, 20, of Vancouver, have been charged with conspiracy to produce ecstasy. The men are expected to appear in Vancouver Provincial Court today for a bail hearing. A Canada-wide arrest warrant for a fourth suspect, Ma Bai Xiao, 30, of Toronto, was also issued. Li, who's well known to police for his involvement in organized crime, was also charged with possession of ecstasy, cocaine and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Charges are also pending in relation to 600 kg of marijuana seized Aug. 20 from a cargo rail shipment in Toronto. Charges will be considered for the 650 cartons of cigarettes found in a storage locker if they are found to be contraband. Goddard said the investigation is ongoing and police are trying to determine the link to China, where the MDP2P was loaded. Evans wouldn't specify how the freighter came to the attention of Canada Border Services Agency, except to say they review all shipment documents well in advance of a vessel's arrival and use a combination of a targeting system and sophisticated X-ray technology to detect suspicious cargo. Richard Laing of Health Canada's drug analysis services said MDP2P is not commercially available and has very little industrial use. It takes only one step to convert the material into the drug. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin