Allegations of infringement Environmental Quality Act Brought against those responsible for a secret drug lab where chemicals were dumped into the environment. This is the first time that Quebec legislation has been used to address environmental damage caused by organized crime during the production of synthetic drugs.
The Environment Ministry announced criminal charges against two individuals on Monday. They are Roxane Savard, owner of a plantation in Danville, Estrey, and Emmanuel Pereira, operator of a clandestine laboratory dismantled on site by the Sûreté du Québec in 2020. The two have already pleaded guilty to successive felony charges related to the manufacture of methamphetamine and received sentences of three years and seven years respectively.
If environmental crimes are proven, fines must also be paid.
“Being the owner of this place, Mr.me Savard was accused of failing to take necessary steps to ensure that deposited or discharged residual materials, such as drug manufacturing and processing residues, were stored, treated or disposed of in an approved location. These facts make this place Mr. Perera has been held responsible,” the ministry announced in a press release.
A laboratory affiliated with the Hell's Angels
Laboratory removed to Danville on M landme Savard also produced in 2020 for a network linked to a criminal biker gang.
When the police arrived, they found several barrels emptying their contents into large bins, similar to those in machine shops. These were connected to a piping system leading underground to buried blue plastic barrels. A report by the Ministry of Environment's Special Operations Unit said there were small holes in the upper walls of the barrels. Pres.
According to a document filed in Sherbrooke court, the first ministry inspector to arrive at the scene of the search clearly observed “signs of environmental damage” at the property. He noted the presence of dead trees and the absence of vegetation around the lab's ventilation outlets, a sign that no plants could survive the fumes.
Photo filed with the court
The Danville laboratory was one of the largest decommissioned laboratories in Quebec.
Hazardous mercuric chloride
An experiment with water demonstrated that a home-made filtration system allowed the product to flow naturally during the production of methamphetamine.
In the report, investigators noted that “mercuric chloride is the most dangerous product in the production of this drug,” but they also listed other chemicals.
The allegations in the case have yet to be tested in court.
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