Pubdate: Thu, 04 Sep 2003
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 Calgary Herald
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Eva Ferguson, Calgary Herald
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hallucinogens.htm (Hallucinogens)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

POLICE BEEF UP DRUG TEAM AFTER BUST

Lethbridge police are working to expand their special operations unit in 
the wake of a huge drug bust resulting from a six-month undercover 
operation that targeted street-level drug dealers.

Nineteen people have been charged over the past 22 weeks with a total of 65 
offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Fourteen have been arrested and will appear in court over the next few 
weeks. Five are being sought with warrants for their arrests.

Police seized methamphetamine, marijuana, psilocybin (mushrooms) and 
hashish as well as a 1998 Chevy Cavalier allegedly used to deliver drugs.

About half of those arrested were allegedly what police call 
"dial-a-dopers" in which cellphones were used to make drug deals and then 
passed on from dealer to dealer to maintain a 24-hour operation.

Nearly $20,000 worth of illicit drugs were seized.

Sgt. Jamie Fisher confirmed the undercover operation is just one of several 
recent drug busts in the community that has forced Lethbridge police to 
increase resources dealing with that type of crime.

The special operation unit of the Lethbridge Police Service's organized 
crime section will be expanding this month, hiring and training three 
additional constables, bringing the staff total to five working under one 
sergeant by October.

"This operation has revealed a trend," Fisher said Wednesday. "It has put a 
strain on our resources and we have to look at enhancing them."

Fisher, along with Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck, believes drug crime is on 
the rise in smaller cities like Lethbridge due to wide-ranging efforts to 
crack down on drug crime in bigger centres.

This summer, Solicitor General Heather Forsyth said Alberta will spend $3.5 
million to create a task force to tackle organized crime. The unit is made 
up of 32 officers from Calgary and Edmonton.

Fisher said criminals are quick to catch on to that type of pressure.

"These guys aren't stupid. They're aware of the pressure in big cities and 
they will spill out."

Tarleck adds that economic and population growth are natural factors in 
increased organized crime.

But officials are also concerned about the development of a major trade 
corrider called the Canamex Highway, which runs all the way from Mexico, up 
through the western United States, through the Coutts border crossing and 
up to Lethbridge, Calgary and Edmonton.

Such a direct north-south route, which already exists along many major 
highways including Highway 2 through Lethbridge and Calgary, could bring 
more drug traffickers into the community.

With the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Community College, Tarleck 
said, "we have 14,000 post-secondary students here. . . . There's no 
question that can be a real enticement to drug dealers."

Since last year's arrival of new police Chief John Middleton-Hope, who came 
to Lethbridge from the Calgary Police Service, a comprehensive review of 
the department has shown a strain on human resources within the organized 
crime division, particularly since undercover investigations are so 
time-intensive, requiring a 24-hour commitment by officers.

"It's a huge commitment, where officers have to live and breathe the drug 
trade . . . they have to befriend and then betray," Fisher said.

Of those arrested in connection with the drug bust, 14 were from the 
Lethbridge area. One is underage, a 16-year-old boy who faces three counts 
of trafficking.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Calgary residents Maurizio Gaudio, 38, 
and Francisco Iulietto, 33, as well as three Lethbridge residents.
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