Pubdate: Sun, 29 Aug 2004
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004 Surrey Leader
Contact:  http://www.surreyleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1236
Author: Daniel Pi
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

POLICE MAKE RECORD DRUG BUST AT DELTAPORT

A drug smuggling ring tried to ship a record amount of the chemical
used to make ecstasy through the Deltaport container cargo terminal in
Delta earlier this year, police revealed last week.

Investigators said the drug ingredients were discovered on a container
ship originally from China and the find led investigators to crack a
sophisticated drug-smuggling operation between Vancouver and Toronto.

A Canada Border Services Agency search of one of the ship's containers
on July 21 found among its stated cargo of soy sauce and rice noodles
66 cartons weighing almost 1,800 kilograms that contained a suspicious
yellow liquid.

"Our targeters examined the information on the ship and identified it
as a high-risk shipment," said Faith St. John, spokesperson for the
Canada Border Services Agency.

Health Canada identified the yellow liquid as MDP2P, a precursor
chemical used in making Ecstasy, she said.

St. John said the 66 cartons could have made 21.2 million doses of the
drug.

The Deltaport seizure was 10 times the size of the previous record
bust in 2003 when the chemical was found concealed in a shipment of
potato starch from the Netherlands.

The RCMP were called and initiated a month-long investigation starting
July 21 that saw investigators tail the shipment to a Vancouver
storage facility and followed a trail that led from the Lower Mainland
to Toronto.

After gathering evidence, police staged a series of raids between Aug.
14 to Aug. 20, seizing cash, drugs and cigarettes were at separate
locations in the Lower Mainland and Toronto.

RCMP Sgt. Dave Goddard, spokesperson for the Vancouver Drug Section,
said more than 100 officers were involved in the investigation that
led to four arrests - Burnaby resident Sum Peter Li, 54, Richmond
resident Go Fu Feng, 38, Vancouver resident Bryan King Tsang, 20 and
Toronto resident Bai Xian Ma, 30.

All four have been charged with conspiracy to produce Ecstasy.

Police also seized $730,280 in Canadian funds, $72,090 in U.S. money,
1,598 pounds of marijuana, 71 kgs of crystal Ecstasy, and 650 cartons
of cigarettes.

About this time last year, border officials and RCMP discovered about
127,050 cartons of fake Canadian and Chinese branded cigarettes worth
almost $9 million in three separate shipping containers at Deltaport.
The containers were originally from China.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin