(U-WIRE) BLACKSBURG, Va. – Police discovered the first ecstasy lab in Blacksburg, Va., Tuesday. Local police, members of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the New River Drug Task Force and the Virginia State Police were all present in uncovering the ecstasy equipment, also known as an MDMA lab.

“The (lab) we got (Tuesday) was the largest one we’ve ever seen in the state of Virginia,” said Laura DiCesare, public information officer for the Washington division of the DEA.

While the exact amount of drugs seized has not yet been released by the police, a police news release said, “Equipment, chemicals and precursors consistent with the manufacturing of ecstasy were discovered.”

Lt. Don Goodman of the Virginia Tech Police Department said at this point the police cannot say whether any other types of drugs or paraphernalia were uncovered.

No arrests or charges in connection with the lab equipment or owners of the house had been made at press time. Information about the residents of 317 Clay St., where the lab was found, has not been released due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, Goodman said.

The investigation and removal of MDMA lab equipment lasted the majority of Tuesday afternoon, beginning at 2:30 p.m. and ending after dark, Goodman said.

“We wouldn’t leave anything at the residence,” he said.

DiCesare said the lab equipment found did not include a pill-press to make the ecstasy pills. Instead, the manufacturers were emptying capsules of other medicines and filling them with MDMA.

Although a pill-press was not found, DiCesare said they did have very high-grade equipment.

“They had very sophisticated, professional-grade glassware,” she said. “We are not going to (speculate) about where they got it from, but it was very sophisticated.”

Goodman said MDMA and methamphetamine are similar in chemical makeup but different in composition.

“These labs are dangerous simply because of the chemicals that are used to make the drugs,” he said.

While both drugs are synthetically made, DiCesare said the main difference between the two is that ecstasy is more of a hallucinogen that is popular with the partying or club scene, while meth is a more addictive drug, like cocaine or heroin.

-Ellen Biltz

“MDMA has two other components that meth doesn’t,” she said.

Goodman also said that while there have previously been methamphetamine labs in Montgomery County, the Town of Blacksburg has never encountered one.

According to the DEA’s Web site, there are a limited number of ecstasy labs in the United States. In 2001, only 17 were found.

DiCesare said in the last three to four years, since domestic production of MDMA has become popular, there have been a total of four found in the state of Virginia.