DRUG PIPELINE RUNS THROUGH JASPER: RCMP

EDMONTON - RCMP traffic patrollers found more evidence this week of
the continuing flow of drugs from British Columbia to Alberta.

Two Edmonton residents were charged with drug trafficking near Jasper
on Thursday, after RCMP pulled over a 25-year-old man and 22-year-old
woman heading east near the park's western gate.

Inside their vehicle, officers found two kilograms of cocaine, worth
about $200,000 on the street, and 27 kilograms of marijuana, worth
about $152,500.

The day before, officers stopped a westbound pickup truck for
equipment violations and found about $100,000 cash bundled and wrapped
in plastic shopping bags. The 33-year-old driver from Gibbons is now
being investigated for possession of the proceeds of crime.

"There are kilograms and kilograms of cocaine heading from port cities
like Vancouver into the rest of Canada everyday," said RCMP Sgt. Ron
Lyons. He and seven other officers with the western Alberta traffic
division have been in the Jasper area all week pulling vehicles over
for traffic violations and finding evidence of drugs in the process.
"It has to supply a huge market in Edmonton, Calgary and all the small
towns in Alberta that are booming."

On Monday, RCMP pulled over a B.C. man heading east on Highway 16 and
seized four kilograms of cocaine in his car.

Lyons said Highway 16 is a key route connecting Edmonton to drugs
coming into B.C. from South America.

"It's always there ... but it's always a challenge to locate the right
vehicles."