Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jan 2015
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Reid Southwick
Page: A8

POLICE BELIEVE ORGANIZED CRIME BEHIND DRUG LINKED TO 10 DEATHS

Reserve rallies to support crackdown on spread of lethal fake
narcotics

CALGARY - Members of the Blood Tribe southwest of Lethbridge have been
holding rallies to unite against the distribution and sale of pills
sold as OxyContin that are suspected to be fake variations containing
a potentially lethal narcotic.

Staff Sgt. Joseph Many Fingers of the Blood Tribe police said he
believes the drug is responsible for 10 deaths on the reserve in the
past six months or so, though toxicology tests have not yet confirmed
these suspicions.

Many Fingers suspects the drug is manufactured in illegal labs by
members of organized crime.

Faced with growing community fears, the police service has assigned
two officers to a newly formed crime-reduction unit to crack down on
the spread of this and other drugs.

Blood Tribe police believe the pills circulating on the reserve
contain fentanyl, a drug considered more powerful than heroin that can
be fatal in small doses.

The opiate is normally prescribed by doctors to treat terminal
illnesses or extreme pain following surgery.

"We are looking at one death every two weeks and several overdoses in
between those where the person makes it," Many Fingers said. "It's
pretty serious. It's having a real impact on the community."

Staff Sgt. Rod Klassen, of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams,
said fentanyl is fashioned to appear like OxyContin, but in fact is
much stronger and more dangerous.

He said the spread of the drug isn't isolated to the Blood Tribe but
has been found across the province, which has seen an increase of
distribution and overdoses.

"I've talked to many other drug commanders around the province, and
everyone is seeing it," Klassen said.

"It's not specific to the Blood Tribe or Lethbridge or any other town
or city in this province, but more so province wide, and I would
suspect even wider than that."

Pamela Little Bear, who lives on the Blood Tribe reserve, said her
nephew was in his early 30s when he died about five months ago from an
overdose suspected to be caused by the fake OxyContin, leaving behind
two young children.

Little Bear is among a group of Blood Tribe members who have held
three recent rallies and an information session on Thursday to educate
their community about the dangers of the drug and call on dealers to
leave.

"We're letting them know that we want them to stop and they are
hurting our loved ones and we're suffering from their deaths that we
have to deal with," she said.

The investigation at the reserve follows a series of raids last week
in Saskatchewan and Alberta where police seized more than $8 million
worth of drugs, including over 3,000 fentanyl pills with the same
chemical composition as narcotics linked to three overdose deaths in
Saskatoon.

Thirteen of the 14 people charged in the bust are members of the Hells
Angels or the Fallen Saints, another motorcycle gang, police say.

Terry Eide, an alleged full-patch member of the Hells Angels, was the
lone Calgarian arrested in the raids.

He was charged with two counts of trafficking a controlled substance,
one for cocaine, the other for fentanyl, and one count of possession
of property obtained by crime.

Last February, following an eight month investigation, the Calgary
Police Service's guns and gangs unit seized 9,600 pills containing
fentanyl and caffeine with an estimated street value of $768,000 from
a vehicle in Chestermere east of Calgary.

Brian Thomas Harrington, a 29-year-old Chestermere man, was charged
with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime in connection
to the suspected drug distribution scheme.

"I can't speak to how they're acquiring the ingredients to manufacture
the fentanyl," acting Insp. Tom Hanson said after the raid.

"But I do know that it's being manufactured in a clandestine lab as
opposed to being stolen from pharmacies or a pharmaceutical
manufacturing company."

Little Bear, who fought an addiction to prescription medications, said
her group has already been successful in convincing members of the
Blood Tribe to seek treatment.

She received texts from three addicts who planned to kick their habit,
and has heard reports of others.

Another rally is scheduled for next Tuesday to spread the same
message, which she hopes will continue to resonate throughout her community.

"We want to make sure (the message is) still out there. (The drug is)
not just going to go away after we're done talking."
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MAP posted-by: Matt