Waukegan Police Discover Rare 'DMT' Drug Lab in Apartment Building
(CBS) -- It's a drug so rare, most police departments have never heard of it...until now.
Waukegan police arrested two people, after the discovery of a "DMT" lab.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot explains the rare, hallucinogenic drug, is known on the street, as "businessman's trip" or "Dimitri."
And it's something the Waukegan Police department has not seen before.
"Yes. This is a new drug for us. We have very limited experience with this drug," Commander Joe Florip of the Waukegan Police Department sad.
A DMT lab, was found inside a third floor apartment at Emhurst Lake Apartments in Waukegan Tuesday. Complex management called police, while carrying out an eviction.
"Management described it as a chemical lab, which obviously got the attention of the police department," said Florip.
The Gang Intelligence Unit, that investigates narcotics, was called to the scene, along with a specialized lab team, from the Illinois State Police. They determined DMT was being manufactured at the apartment complex.
The operation was "described to me that it was taking up rooms inside the apartment," when it comes to how large it was, Florip said.
Waukegan police evacuated the complex and secured the scene. The state police team did cleanup in hazmat suits, to make sure the area was safe.
And other residents in the building were at risk.
"A drug manufacturing facility with chemicals is very dangerous, for the health of the residents inside and other tenants, and can be combustible," he said.
While Chicago police say there have not been any recent discoveries of DMT in the Chicago area, federal law-enforcement say the most recent DMT cases date to 2014, in Hoffman Estates and Belvidere.