POLICE TARGET HABITUAL DRUG-USING CRIMINALS

More than three-quarters of the 39 people who were arrested as part of
a drug sweep 18 months ago continue to commit crimes, RCMP Supt. Bill
McKinnon said, and a number have been nabbed in subsequent efforts to
target drug trafficking in Kelowna.

At a Rotary meeting on Tuesday, Kelowna's top cop spoke about an
undercover operation in July 2005 that targetted drug trafficking in
the downtown core, and told attendees about the criminal history--both
before and after--of the 39 people were arrested on drug charges.

Prior to the operation, dubbed E-Palace, a majority of the offenders
had a criminal history, with 79 percent having been hauled before the
courts on drug charges, McKinnon said.

"Following up on these individuals a year and a half later, we see
that almost all are still involved in criminal activity and some are
still specifically involved in drug-related activity," he said.

Since their arrests on drug charges, a total of 30 of the 39 people
have had charges forwarded to crown counsel on at least one occasion,
with 14 of those individuals facing at least one drug charge.

The number of times a person has been charged in the last 18 month
varies, said McKinnon, with the worst offender being the subject of a
report to crown counsel a dozen times in the past year and a half.

The 22 year old, who continues to live in Kelowna, has 17 prior
convictions, and has a history of violence, robbery, weapons, theft
and drugs.

Since his arrest in the summer of 2005, he has received four criminal
convictions.

"It is also notable that this individual was arrested and charged with
cocaine trafficking on both Project E-Paeony and Project E-Pansy, two
projects with similar objectives to E-Palace," said McKinnon.

One of the more surprising findings in the report, said McKinnon, was
the fact that many of the criminals are local, rather than from Vancouver.

"Many of those arrested are our own, they're from Kelowna," said
McKinnon.

Kelowna's top cop was also surprised by the transiency of the group
arrested, noting that 50 per cent of those arrested in Kelowna have
moved on and are commiting crime in Kamloops.