RAID YIELDS $1-MILLION COCAINE CACHE

One Man Arrested As Victoria Police Seize Drugs, Money And Handgun

Machine-gun toting ERT officers stood guard Thursday as Victoria
police displayed 16 kilograms of cocaine in what they describe as the
single biggest cocaine seizure in the department's history.

"We believe these drugs were headed to the streets of Victoria and we
believe we have made a significant impact on the street-level drug
trade in our community," Acting Insp. Les Sylven told a media
conference in the heavily guarded Victoria Police Headquarters parking garage.

A raid Wednesday at an upscale townhouse on Waterfront Crescent in
the Selkirk waterfront area yielded the cocaine, which police
estimate is worth over $1 million, at least $50,000 in cash, $20,000
worth of heroin, 180 tablets of ecstasy and a handgun. A 38-year-old
man, well known by police, was also arrested.

Sylven said the seizure will definitely reduce illegal drugs in
Victoria but for how long is anyone's guess.

"Cocaine has dried up. How long? Who knows. A couple of weeks? A
month? A couple of days? But this is significant. We believe, based
on the information we receive out there, this will crimp the supply
of cocaine in the city."

The seizure came as part of an ongoing focus in the capital region on
mid- and street-level dealers "who profit off the backs of other
peoples' addictions," said Sylven.

Police estimated value of the drugs based on the sale of cocaine in
Victoria at a price of between $800 and $1,000 an ounce.

"If we conservatively estimate $1,000 an ounce, that's going to give
us well over $500,000. But it doesn't stop there. At that level it
only begins to spread out into the community. Typically at the ounce
level or lower it starts to get stepped on or cut -- other
ingredients are added into it to make a seizure like this potentially
double in size," Sylven said.

"When we break it down further to what's commonly on the streets in
Victoria, and that's a half a gram of cocaine going for $40 -- we're
talking millions of dollars."

While the bricks of cocaine were stamped, Sylven declined to say what
that stamp is or the drugs' possible country of origin.

Charged with multiple counts of possession for the purpose of
trafficking is Mark Cunningham, 38. He was remanded in custody until Sept. 5.