DRUGS PART OF ALBERTA BOOM

Add drug dealers to the list of fortune-hunters who've found a land of
opportunity in booming Alberta, says a Mountie working the busy
Highway 16 corridor to B.C.

RCMP traffic cops in the Jasper area say criminals seem to have
discovered a nice profit margin in buying illicit drugs in B.C. and
bringing them to Edmonton to sell.

"A lot of the manufactured drugs are cheaper in Vancouver than they
are in Alberta, just because of the boom - that's what we've been
hearing," said Sgt. Ron Lyons, who works in the RCMP traffic unit
covering the Jasper, Edson, Evansburg and Whitecourt areas.

"It's Economics 101 - when demand exceeds supply, the price is going
to go up." And demand for drugs is only getting stronger in a province
teeming with young people with plenty of free time and disposable
income, he said.

RCMP Jasper Traffic Services seized a cache of drugs and money
Wednesday after pulling over an eastbound vehicle on Highway 16 in
Jasper National Park.

They netted 117 grams of crack cocaine, 1,000 tablets of ecstasy, 515
grams of ketamine - a date rape drug - and $900 cash.

Two Edmonton men, Milton Gargner, 22,and Tony Koeferle, 23, have been
charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking.

Last year, Lyons's unit seized $207,810 in cocaine, $78,423 in
marijuana, $287,000 cash and $120,000 in stolen property travelling
along the highway.

Most seizures were on Highway 16, though some were on Highway 43,
which heads north to Grande Prairie and Peace River.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Ian Sanderson, of the drug and organized crime
awareness section, said drug trafficking is "criminal enterprise"
based on what the market will bear.