Since the beginning of the year, the RCMP has dismantled 37 clandestine labs with industrial production capacity. Most of them were located in British Columbia ( 24 ), followed by Quebec ( seven ) and Ontario ( six ).

"It's the first time we dismantle so many big labs in such a short period of time," said RCMP Cpl. Raymond Martel.

"This is a serious threat in Canada, it's our national priority," he added.

Martel was delivering a presentation yesterday in Quebec City to representatives from Canadian pharmaceutical and chemical producers and distributors.

The RCMP wants to raise their awareness of the growing diversion of legal chemical substances to make illegal substances.

Organized crime groups are moving into the production of synthetic drugs because many of the products needed to produce those drugs - called precursor chemicals - can easily be imported, and often legally, to Canada.

Canada is one of the world's largest producers of synthetic drugs such as ecstasy and crystal meth, the RCMP said yesterday warning that large-scale clandestine laboratories are thriving in the country.

Since the beginning of the year, the RCMP has dismantled 37 clandestine labs with industrial production capacity. Most of them were located in British Columbia ( 24 ), followed by Quebec ( seven ) and Ontario ( six ).

"It's the first time we dismantle so many big labs in such a short period of time," said RCMP Cpl. Raymond Martel.

"This is a serious threat in Canada, it's our national priority," he added.

Martel was delivering a presentation yesterday in Quebec City to representatives from Canadian pharmaceutical and chemical producers and distributors.

The RCMP wants to raise their awareness of the growing diversion of legal chemical substances to make illegal substances.

Organized crime groups are moving into the production of synthetic drugs because many of the products needed to produce those drugs - called precursor chemicals - can easily be imported, and often legally, to Canada.

Before 2003, no precursor chemicals were banned in Canada, making the country a haven for drug traffickers to bring in their product, Martel said.

"That lack of regulation led the organized crime to flourish in Canada," said Martel, who works for the chemical diversion program of the RCMP.

He said organized crime groups are taking profit of this illicit trade, such as Asian gangs, bikers, as well as Russian and Indo-Canadian crime groups.

In 2003 several precursor chemicals used to make methamphetamine and ecstasy were banned or regulated, but others still have no restrictions on their importation.

"That law has helped us," Martel stressed.

He said brokers in China and India are the biggest exporters of precursor chemicals to Canada. The chemicals are transformed into synthetic drugs in clandestine labs in Canada and exported to several countries.

Martel said drug traffickers are going global because the profit margin of selling precursor chemical on the black market is very high. For instance 25 kilograms of ephedrine - used to manufacture a variety of synthetic drugs - can be bought for $2,500 to $5,000. One kilogram of ephedrine can be resold on the black market for between $1,000 and $3,000.

Martel also said that organized groups operating in Canada are pressuring pharmaceutical and chemical companies to sell them in bulk the key ingredients to create synthetic drugs.