Pubdate: Fri, 18 Aug 2006
Source: Ancaster News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2006 Brabant Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.ancasternews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3386
Author: Richard Leitner, Ancaster
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CRACK CLAMPDOWN NETS 171 ARRESTS, $1-MILLION DRUG HAUL

A police clampdown on crack addicts is being credited  for the 
seizure of more than $1 million in illegal  drugs and a big drop in 
robberies in the downtown area.

Police Chief Brian Mullan said Project HALT  successfully tested the 
theory that crack users are  responsible for most street-level crime.

The two-month initiative that ended Aug. 3 used  "accumulated 
intelligence" to target people known to be  involved in street-level 
trafficking and drug use,  particularly in areas by crack houses, he said.

The surveillance effort, which included 20 officers  from three 
police stations as well as drug and  break-and-enter squads, resulted 
171 arrests and 363  charges.

During that time, variety store and gas bar robberies  dropped by 33 
and 58 per cent, respectively, while  those targeting other 
businesses also declined by 21  per cent, the chief said.

Overall robberies are down four per cent so far this  year, he said.

"As we have always said, attack crack cocaine and it  will drive down 
spinoff drug-related activity," Chief  Mullan told members of the 
Hamilton Police Service  Board. "This is bearing that hypothesis out."

Despite the focus on crack, marijuana compromised the  majority of 
the police haul, with 21 seizures  accounting for $970,000 of the 
$1.124-million total.

Police also seized nearly 1,000 grams of powder cocaine  with a 
street value of $100,000 and 385 grams of crack  cocaine worth 
$40,000, as well as 1,355 illegal pills  and 9.7 grams of crystal 
methamphetamine.

Seven illegal firearms were also confiscated, along  with nearly 
$86,000 in "proceeds of crime."

Chief Mullan acknowledged the clampdown didn't target  the bigger 
players who supply illegal drugs.

But he said police continue to cultivate informants and  conduct 
background investigations in the hopes of  snagging the bigger drug dealers.

"They are, of course, the most difficult individuals to  arrest. 
They're layered," Chief Mullan said in an  interview.

"This (clampdown) is mostly street-level traffickers  and 
street-level users," he said. "When you take a  million dollars worth 
of drugs off the street, it has  to have a positive effect. When you 
take seven firearms  off the street, you have to have a positive effect.

"When you take repeat offenders off the street -- and  those are the 
individuals that have been previously  arrested and are now being 
held in custody without bail  -- it has to have a positive effect in 
regards to crime  on many levels."

Police board chair Bernie Morelli said the clampdown is  more 
evidence that crack continues to be a major  problem in Hamilton 
despite the closure in March of the  Sandbar Tavern, a downtown bar 
that had been a  notorious crack house.

While praising police efforts, he said he is concerned  by the 
appearance of crystal methamphetamine in the  street-drug mix.

The highly addictive drug -- a clear crystal produced  from 
pseudoephedrine, a decongestant in cold remedies  like Sudafed and 
Triaminic -- has until now been most  common in western, rural communities.

It creates an immediate but short-lived high when  smoked and can 
cause irreversible damage to brain cells  and blood vessels. There 
had been only two previous  crystal methamphetamine arrests in Hamilton.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom