Pubdate: Tue, 02 Aug 2005
Source: Metro (CN ON)
Section: Pg 6
Copyright: 2005 Metro
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3462
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CRACK DEALERS OPENLY SELL ON STREETS IN YELLOWKNIFE

The premier of the Northwest Territories says it is "unbelievable" that 
RCMP officers stand by while drug dealers openly sell crack cocaine in 
public in the territorial capital city.

For anyone in Yellowknife, N.W.T. who wants to buy crack cocaine, it can be 
had day or night as dealers ply their wares, often under the scrutiny of 
RCMP drug squad officers.

"I just find it unbelievable that I can go down the street and tell you who 
the dealers are and have nothing done about it, and see the RCMP drive 
right past them," Premier Joe Handley says.

"There's more interest among the Yellowknife drug squad in getting the big 
guy in Vancouver than in our local drug pushers."

RCMP, who serve as the local police force, admit Handley is partly correct. 
They must follow a "mandate," set by headquarters in Ottawa, that requires 
they go after only major traffickers and dealers. Those in Yellowknife, as 
destructive as they are, aren't nationally important enough to merit the 
federal force's attention.

They say they know the drugs come from Asian, East European and outlaw 
motorcycle gangs in Alberta and B.C., and complain they're hamstrung. 
Wiping out the trade on the so-called "Gaza Strip" -- a few metres from the 
city's main intersection along 50th Street between the Gold Range Hotel and 
the Right Spot bar -- would just send it elsewhere, they say. It's tough to 
convict accused dealers. People would likely object to stop checks on the 
only road into the city from southern Canada.

Meanwhile, N.W.T.'s crime rate, at six times the national average is on the 
rise, fuelled by drug activity, while violent and property crimes drop in 
the rest of the country, RCMP statistics show.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth