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Sound Familiar? This Former Chemistry Professor Has Been Charged in a 'Sophisticated' Drug Lab Bust

Police in Canada say they busted a “sophisticated, industrial scale clandestine lab” in New Brunswick that was capable of producing 1.5 million ecstasy pills.
Photo de Daniel Cozak via Radio-Canada

A former university chemistry professor and his son are facing criminal charges after police busted a "sophisticated, industrial scale clandestine lab" capable of producing 1.5 million ecstasy pills in New Brunswick.

Daniel Cozak, 66, and Charles Cozak, 26, were arrested yesterday in Lac-Baker, NB, and charged with conspiracy to produce an illegal substance and drug production.

Police raided multiple locations, including a cottage in Lac-Baker, where the alleged lab was discovered.

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"The production capacity of the clandestine lab in Lac-Baker had the potential to have major negative impacts on communities across the country and possibly elsewhere," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a news release. "The RCMP have seized the lab and police are in the process of dismantling it."

The case is sure to draw comparisons to the hit television show Breaking Bad, about a high school chemistry teacher turned crystallized methamphetamine kingpin.

The RCMP however, said they nipped the alleged New Brunswick operation in the bud, before it actually took products to market.

Photo of alleged drug lab via RCMP

Photo via RCMP

The elder Cozak used to teach chemistry at Laval University, in Quebec, where he lives.

He is listed as an instructor at Haward Technology Middle East, which provides training for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. According to the profile on the company website, Cozak is a senior chemical consultant with over 30 years experience in the fields of analytical chemistry, catalyst technology, polymer and polymerization, and process engineering, to name a few.

"Aside from being a well-regarded professor at the University of Laval," the synopsis states, and a "well-regarded" member of the American Chemical Society, Canadian Institute of Chemistry, New York Academy of Sciences and the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineers, Cozak has held "significant positions" with different international companies. He holds degrees from McGill University in Montreal and the Technical University of Munich.

He and his son appeared in at the Grand Falls Provincial Court on Wednesday and were to be transferred back to Quebec. A 55-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man were also arrested in Quebec as part of the same investigation.