Pubdate: Thu, 02 Feb 2006
Source: Westender (Vancouver, CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 WestEnder
Contact:  http://www.westender.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1243
Author: Sean Condon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)

LATINOS FIGHT 'DRUG DEALER' LABEL

Though the Downtown Eastside's Latino population is small and 
diverse, police say many of its members are active in the drug trade, 
either as dealers or users. But Latino activists say the police are 
not discriminating between the dealers and the rest of the community. 
Omar Barahona, a 47-year-old social activist from El Salvador who is 
based in the Downtown Eastside, says the police are harassing and 
targeting all Latinos as drug dealers.

"A couple of months ago [the police] took me and a buddy of mine to 
the alley, and almost strangled us because they allege we have [crack 
cocaine hidden] in our mouths," says Barahona. "Then they beat us and 
put us in the middle of nowhere in Burnaby. They took our shoes, took 
our money and just left us there. That's a normal thing for them to do."

Barahona was recently arrested for drug trafficking and is now 
awaiting his court date. He says the police didn't find any drugs on 
him, but still charged him. While the police were driving him to 
jail, Barahona says he told them he wanted to go home and they 
responded by saying, "You're going home pretty soon. We're going to 
deport you."

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) often works with Canadian 
immigration officials to try and crack down on Latino drug dealers 
who have been a constant source of frustration for the police. 
According to a VPD report, Latin immigrants make up only 12 per cent 
of the dealers in the neighbourhood, but have built up a 
sophisticated network that brings young men from Central American 
countries - mainly Honduras - as refugee claimants. They then sell 
drugs on the streets for a few years before finally getting deported.

The dealers are often able to avoid capture from the police by using 
"mules" to carry the drugs or by wrapping up crack cocaine rocks in 
cellophane and holding it in their mouths. When police approach, they 
swallow the drugs and either vomit or defecate them out later.

But members of the Latino community say because the police are having 
a difficult time arresting the dealers, they're coming down harder on 
the drug users.

"What [the police] are really doing is arresting people who are 
addicted to drugs," says Jorge Campos, a 41-year-old crack cocaine 
user from El Salvador who has lived in the Downtown Eastside for five years.

"The treatment of the police is very brutal. I've been arrested a 
couple of times. They are very [intimidating]. They tear off your 
clothes and beat you up just for being an addict."

The police deny they're targeting drug users or the general Latino 
community. They admit to having a hard time arresting and deporting 
the dealers, but blame a lack of resources.

The VPD has done sweeps on the dealers, arresting as many as a dozen 
at a time, but they say the Latino network keeps replenishing itself.

"We prefer to go after the [dealers] that prey on people," says 
Const. Matthew Black, who has been working the Downtown Eastside 
streets for the past six years. "Going after someone that is just 
shooting heroin, we have to deal with [them] because they are 
breaking the law. But we'd much rather go after the predatory drug 
dealers. Give us the resources and we will."

Black says Latino dealers are "an embarrassment" to the Latino 
community, which he credits for trying to help stop the drug trade.

While members of the Downtown Eastside's Latino community acknowledge 
things have improved with the police over the past year, they say 
more still needs to be done. Antonio Hernandez, the editor of the new 
Latino community newspaper La Vanguardia, says the police need more 
cultural training.

Hernandez, who is from Guatemala, says he has been beaten by the 
police on two occasions. Both times he showed the police his press 
credentials, but he alleges they didn't believe him and accused him 
of being a drug dealer.

Hernandez says the police need to understand that many Central 
American immigrants came to Canada as refugees from war-torn 
countries. But many have had a difficult time finding jobs in 
Vancouver and fall into drugs and alcohol as a way to deal with their 
post-traumatic stress.

There is only one Spanish-speaking drug and alcohol counsellor in 
Vancouver and detox and treatment services do not offer any 
information in Spanish.

Barahona is now considering leaving the Downtown Eastside because of 
the constant threats. He says he came to Vancouver hoping to build a 
better life for himself, but the police are only making a bad situation worse.

"I had no idea that things would be this bad [in Vancouver]," says 
Barahona. "This is a real piece of hell in heaven."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom