RASH OF WEAPON, DRUG SEIZURES SHOCK POLICE

Cops Confiscate 13 Guns, Lay Several Charges In Less Than 2 Weeks

Abbotsford police are alarmed by a growing number of high-powered
guns in the community.

Police seized an assault rifle Tuesday, the latest in a string of
illegal weapons seizures linked to the drug trade.

Officers responded to a report of a fight in a Subway sandwich shop
parking lot at 7 p.m. The brawl was over when police arrived, but
several of those who had been involved were still there and are known
to be involved with drugs and weapons, said Abbotsford police Const.
Casey Vinet.

A search of one vehicle's trunk turned up an AK-47 assault rifle,
which has yet to be tested but is of a type that's typically fully
automatic, Vinet said.

"We're happy to get it off the street," he said yesterday.

A 30-round magazine was found with the AK-47.

One man, 21, is facing charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and
carrying a concealed gun.

The AK-47 was the 13th gun Abbotsford police have seized in less than
two weeks.

On Aug. 3, officers executing a drug warrant in a home found two
machine guns, several high-capacity magazines, two silencers, four
pistols, two rifles, six flak jackets, a taser and balaclavas.

Police also found a half kilogram of cocaine and about 100 grams of marijuana.

"When we went into that house, the occupant whom we ended up
arresting was sleeping with a loaded handgun under his pillow," Vinet said.

Bhupinder Jatana, 28, is charged with multiple drug and weapon offences.

Police believe the illegal weapons and drugs are connected to an
organized criminal group they are monitoring.

On Aug. 11, police searched two homes during a drug probe. In one
they found two 9mm handguns, more than $5,000 in cash and cocaine,
pot and crystal meth. In the other, police found a loaded .357 magnum
pistol, a loaded sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, $4,000 in cash,
balaclavas and a "large quantity" of ecstacy and cocaine.

Charged with drug and weapons offences are Gena Petrick, 21, of
Chilliwack; Brandon Johnston and Shawn Brien, both 24, of Abbotsford;
and Andrea Sinclair, 23, of Mission.

"The profit margins when it comes to the drug trade are so great that
it's really the catalyst to a lot of the conflicts between competing
groups," Vinet said. "With the drug trade comes increased kidnappings
and extortions. A lot of times these weapons are used to facilitate
those crimes."

Rapidly growing Abbotsford now has the third-highest crime rate in
Canada, with 12,886 Criminal Code offences per 100,000 people,
according to Statistics Canada.

That rate is driven by property crime, Vinet said. The city's murder
rate has plunged from 5.1 per 100,000 people in 2003 to 2.5 in 2005.