Cops find Ecstasy drug lab near Georgia Tech

By Ty Tagami

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Federal drug agents went looking for methamphetamine near Georgia Tech late Sunday and found an Ecstasy lab instead on Monday.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration hazardous materials team spent the early morning searching a house near the intersection of 10th Street and Northside Drive. They found "no significant" amount of meth, Atlanta police Sgt. Curtis Davenport said.

But they did find another illicit, man-made drug.

"In the end," said Chuvalo J. Truesdell, a DEA special agent, "it was an Ecstasy, or MDMA, lab."

MDMA is shorthand for Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a synthetic drug that induces a feeling of euphoria. It became popular in the 1980s with the advent of "rave" dance parties.

Atlanta narcotics officers have teamed up with the DEA to figure out who owns the house, Davenport said. As of Monday afternoon, no one had been arrested and there were no suspects, he said, adding that it appeared to be a vacant rental house.

Truesdell said Ecstasy labs, like meth labs, can be dangerous. "Anytime you're mixing chemicals like that it has the ability to explode."

Atlanta officers converged on the neighborhood late Sunday and secured the house by 11 p.m. Later, a DEA hazardous materials team suited up in protective gear to remove items from the house.

Truesdell said the federal agents cleaned the house.

Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.