'NOTABLE DECLINE' IN ALBERTA METH DEMAND

Described two years ago as "the most significant threat" in Alberta,
methamphetamine demand in the province is on the decline, says a new
report on organized crime.

The report by Criminal Intelligence Service Alberta also says the
profits garnered from human trafficking rival that of drug and weapons
trafficking and a lack of police resources is hampering intelligence
gathering on gangs.

It was two years ago that Harv Emter, then the CISA director, warned
methamphetamine was the most important thing law enforcement should be
targeting. Now, in a 12-page report released Tuesday that is unusually
thin on details, information from police agencies throughout Alberta
says there has been "a notable decline" in demand for the highly
addictive and cheap drug.

"Maybe people are savvy enough that they're staying away from it, that
they're paying attention to the high risk of it," said Insp. Rick
Bohachyk, CISA's director and a member of the Edmonton Police Service.

The drug, which can be cooked up from household products, has been
blamed for a domino effect of crime spurred by users looking to steal
to pay for their next hit. Police and those who counsel users say meth
has a low profile in Calgary.

"Two or three years ago, we had clients come through and it was
absolutely their drug of choice," said Natalie Imbach, the clinical
director at Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre. "Recently, I haven't
seen anybody where crystal meth has been their drug of choice."

This was the first year CISA, whose mandate is to dismantle organized
crime and act as a go-to agency for Alberta's police forces, gathered
information on human trafficking. It found organized crime was making
a healthy living off it, though it couldn't put a dollar figure on
it.

"The evidence . . . from some of the agencies is that (activity) is
extremely high," Bohachyk said. He also said stretched police agencies
are only aware of about 80 per cent of organized crime, with the
remaining 20 per cent likely low-level criminals or
dial-a-dopers.

Alberta Solicitor General spokeswoman Christine Skjerven said every
sector is asking for more resources and added the government recently
boosted the number of police officers in Calgary and Alberta. The
quality of intelligence gathering isn't necessarily being affected by
police not knowing about every gang, she added.

Past public reports named some of the most dangerous gangs, the risks
they pose and specified communities with a large organized crime
presence. This year, it only said there were 54 known crime groups and
49 people of interest when it came to organized crime. Bohachyk said
he didn't want to "glorify" gangs by naming them.