Pubdate: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 1999 The Province Contact: 200 Granville Street, Ste. #1, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N3 Canada Fax: (604) 605-2323 Website: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/ Author: Jason Proctor, Staff Reporter The Province CRACK SQUAD ON TRACK Two traffickers with 1,300 hits are arrested as police agree to set up a strike force to fight SkyTrain's scourge An impeccably timed crack cocaine seizure yesterday highlighted a decision by four Lower Mainland police forces to hit hard against drug dealers who have terrorized neighbourhoods up and down the SkyTrain line. Surrey and Burnaby RCMP and New Westminster and Vancouver police forces agreed yesterday to form a special strike force in conjunction with Canada Immigration, the federal justice department and the provincial attorney-general. Even as they made the announcement, a tip led Burnaby RCMP to a pair of dealers who couldn't have provided police with better evidence of the problem at hand. At Kingsway and Edmonds, in the back of a car, officers found a man and a woman --Eboth Honduran refugee claimants -- dividing a quarter-pound of crack into tiny sealed packages. That's about 1,300 hits of the addictive drug. The man was arrested in Vancouver only months ago on an identical charge. "I don't doubt that the drugs were destined for sale at a SkyTrain station in the Lower Mainland," said Burnaby RCMP Sgt. Derek Cooke. "You can draw your own conclusions." Cooke said more than 30 people from stakeholder agencies gathered at the meeting, called to tackle a problem that has moved from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, winding up recently around Metrotown SkyTrain station. Police there have arrested more than 37 crack dealers in the past week - -- the majority refugee claimants, several with previous arrests for the same crime. Among other factors, critics blame lax immigration laws, soft court sentences and a criminal syndicate which appears to be working the system bringing Honduran teenagers to Canada to sell drugs while making bogus refugee claims. Cooke said the point of the meeting was to solve the problem rather than displace it. Using existing resources and expanded information sharing, he said the proposed strike force should be up and running by the new year. "It'll be more than simply a uniform presence. They'll be plain-clothes officers as well as a focus on organized crime links," said Cooke. "Everyone recognizes that this is a significant problem affecting our communities. It was a positive meeting --Eeverybody wants the same outcome." Cooke said a recent report released by the attorney-general's office calling for armed SkyTrain cops was not a part of the meeting's agenda. The union representing TransLink Security constables supports the proposal, but Cooke said the suggestion speaks more to a long-term crime problem faced specifically by SkyTrain. - --- MAP posted-by: Greg