Pubdate: Tue, 2 Sep 2008
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Ethan Baron, The Province
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials.

NINE MEN FACE POT-TRAFFICKING CHARGES

Tips From Residents Fed-Up With Drug-Related Crime Helped, RCMP Say

Nine men -- three of them brothers -- are to appear in court next 
week charged with growing and trafficking pot after Mounties seized 
more than 45,000 plants from eight properties in the rural community of Likely.

Tips from the public were a significant contributor to the police 
case against the accused, said Williams Lake RCMP Cpl. Marc Menard.

"The people are fed up," he said. "They don't want to tolerate this 
any more." With the city's drug problem driving the crime rate to the 
highest per-capita level in B.C., residents are keen to provide 
information to police, Menard said.

Drugs have become an in-your-face issue in Williams Lake, with gangs 
intimidating citizens and users stealing to feed their habits, said 
Coun. Tom Barr.

"The general consensus is we've had it up to our necks -- hooligans 
running around and scaring people and giving no thought to anyone 
else," said Barr, whose beer and wine store has been hit by thieves 
two dozen times in the past three years.

"The police are doing a hell of a job catching quite a few of them. I 
think one of the problems that we have is they're turned loose right 
away." The pot seizures in Likely, a 45-minute drive from Williams 
Lake, occurred between November 2006 and November 2007.

Slated to appear in Williams Lake Provincial Court on Sept. 10 are [redacted].

Police say the nine are members of an organized crime group.

If a conviction is secured, the Mounties will seek to have the 
properties associated with the grow-ops forfeited to the Crown.

"You take their money, you take their dope, you take their properties 
away," Menard said. "It's got to have some impact." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake