Airdrie garage explosion caused by illegal cannabis lab: police
Posted Oct 4, 2018 11:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Airdrie RCMP believe a garage explosion last month was related to the production of a cannabis product.
On September 6, two men suffered serious injuries in the explosion on 1 Avenue NE in Airdrie.
Corporal Gina Slaney said a search warrant helped investigators learned what they were up to in there.
“(It) revealed 300 new and empty butane cans, and other equipment to aid in the extraction of hash oil from marijuana,” she said.
Hash oil is a potent cannabis extract, referred to as shatter, with very high contents of THC.
In this case, the men were using butane gas to pull the THC from the plant. The resulting liquid is then turned into shatter through heat and pressure, which can result in an explosion.
Over 20 kilograms of cannabis was seized and over one gram of resin.
Nicolas Desourdy 22, of Calgary, Taylor Edwards, 24, of Airdrie and Jordan Filipovic, 24, of Airdrie, face charges relating to cannabis trafficking, production of cannabis and possession of cannabis resin.
Mounties are reminding the public that even when cannabis is legalized in a couple weeks, oil extraction labs will remain illegal and the use of highly flammable materials is very dangerous.
