Pubdate: Wed, 10 Apr 2002
Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 The Sudbury Star
Contact:  http://www.thesudburystar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608
Author: Rob O'Flanagan

PROJECT DIGGER CRACKING DOWN ON LUCRATIVE DRUG TRADE

Joint Force Out To Bust Sophisticated Drug Dealers

Police forces in the Sudbury area will "go as far as it takes" to 
disrupt and curtail the local drug trade, Greater Sudbury Police 
Chief Alex McCauley warns.

Organized crime runs the lucrative trade, McCauley said at a joint 
police forces press conference Tuesday.

Drug dealers are more sophisticated and more dangerous than ever 
before, said the chief.

But that won't deter the new joint forces team, known as Project 
Digger, in its efforts to intimidate, bust and prosecute drug 
dealers, producers and users, McCauley added.

Drug enforcement officials from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 
Ontario Provincial Police and Greater Sudbury Police announced the 
formation of the six-officer team Tuesday.

The drug force will work together on a daily basis to share knowledge 
and best practices, more thoroughly investigate suspects and 
co-ordinate evidence gathering.

The three forces will also commit human resources during arrests, 
some of which, McCauley indicated, could be high risk.

Recognition of Sudbury's drug problem made the formation of the Joint 
Forces Team urgent, said Supt. Morris Elbers, the acting director of 
the OPP's drug enforcement section.

Maintaining a consistent drug enforcement presence in the region is 
among the goals of the initiative - a goal that has been previously 
hampered by the restrictions of policing boundaries.

"This will be very positive for the people of this area and will 
create a lot of problems for the criminals," said Insp. Marty 
VanDoren, the RCMP's deputy criminal investigations officer for 
Ontario Region, O Division.

In an interview, VanDoren said the RCMP would bring its extensive 
knowledge of the international drug trade and a broader national 
perspective to the team.

Creative, highly advanced policing is needed to keep drug dealers and 
producers on guard and off balance, he added.

"They have become more aware of the police techniques that are used 
and have learned to respond to them," VanDoren said, explaining that 
drug trade insiders may avoid dealing over the phone because of the 
use of wiretaps, or have learned to evade certain surveillance 
practices.

"The tools we used in the 90s may not work today," he said. "We have 
learned to be more creative."

When asked if police investigators are as cunning as organized 
criminals, VanDoren pointed to a table that displayed some of the 
spoils from recent drug seizures.

"We make seizures all the time," he said. "We won't stamp out the 
drug trade overnight, but we intend to keep the bad guys looking over 
their shoulders at all times."

The city's police service and the OPP have worked successfully 
together on drug-related cases for the past seven months, pressing 
215 drug charges, seizing an estimated $1 million in drugs and 
another $40,000 in property and currency.

A portion of those seizures was on display during Tuesday's press 
conference. The drugs of choice in the Sudbury area - marijuana, 
Ecstasy, cocaine and hashish - along with bundles of cash, filled one 
end of the table.

At the other end, an assortment of firearms - handguns and rifles - 
crowded the table.

Unlike in the past, weapons have become a tool of the trade for 
dealers, police officials have recently said.

Demand for drugs, recent reports suggest, is high in Sudbury. Asked 
whether the drug trade could ever be curtailed if the demand remains 
high, police officials admitted that it likely could not.

But drug use is limited to a small minority of the population, 
McCauley said, and educational programs aimed at impressionable young 
people, coupled with the new, enhanced enforcement, will make a dent 
in the supply and demand for drugs.

None of the officials at Tuesday's press conference would reveal 
details on how intelligence is gathered, or whether undercover 
officials are used to gather information within the drug trade.
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