MOST METH HERE IS IMPORTED

SASKATOON -- It came from the west and touched down first in
Lloydminster. About four years ago, police saw crystal methamphetamine
creep into Saskatoon and spread to Prince Albert and Melfort. Only
within the last two years have Regina police seen the highly
addictive, hallucinogenic drug appear in the city.

Police say crystal meth isn't the biggest problem they're battling in
the province. But addicts who become slaves to the 12-hour euphoric
effect it brings become paranoid, aggressive and tolerant of pain.

Although police statistics show meth use is growing in the province,
the RCMP say the intelligence they have indicates most of the crystal
meth used in Saskatchewan is made in clandestine labs outside the province.

"In many indications, it's coming from Alberta -- primarily the urban
centres in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton -- and travelling into
Saskatchewan," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Brian Jones said. "(But) we have
not made significant seizures on the highways that we have with marijuana."

Since it has arrived, the distribution of meth users across the
province has been uneven.

"There is not a blanket of meth across the province," Jones said.
"There are hot spots where it is used more than others."

Saskatoon has become the crystal meth hub in the province, largely
thanks to its proximity to Edmonton, said Sgt. Jerome Engele of the
Saskatoon Integrated Drug Unit.

"Our meth comes from Methmonton, as it's known," Engele said. "They're
our supplier. That's the route, ours is coming in through Lloydminster
to Saskatoon. We move it out from here to our surrounding areas."

Meth moved into Edmonton from B.C. about four years ago, said Edmonton
Police Service acting Staff Sgt. Darcy Strang, the officer in charge
of the city's Meth Project Team.

Between March of 2004 and March 2005, Edmonton police had 297 files in
which meth was involved. They also collect about 900 crystal meth
exhibits per year, he said.

Three superlabs police found in and around the city over the last
three years served as smoke signals that warned meth was planting
roots in Edmonton. A superlab is a clandestine operation that makes 10
pounds of meth or more in a 24-hour period.

"That's a lot of meth. You don't get superlabs in areas unless you
have a large need for it from the populace," Strang said. "If Ford
came here and built a huge plant, you wouldn't find nobody driving
Fords."

The price of meth has also dropped from $300 a gram to $50 a gram in
the Alberta capital. Meth is sold in units called "points," and each
point is 0.1 grams.

The price of meth in Saskatoon has halved since it first appeared,
Engele said, dropping from $20 to $10.

Although the plunging price is one sign of growing meth use in the
city, the drug unit's statistics also show an exponential increase. In
2000, meth wasn't on Saskatoon's radar screen. By 2002, police
documented 13 "occurrences" of the drug, or incidents where they found
it in someone's possession or a person turned it over to police. In
2004, police found meth 229 times and laid 167 charges related to the
drug. Between Jan. 1 and April 30 of this year, police have recorded
151 occurrences of meth and laid 58 charges.

Police have uncovered only one confirmed crystal meth lab in
Saskatoon.

Engele said sources in the drug trade tell him the meth trail radiates
outwards from Saskatoon to Prince Albert, Tisdale, Humboldt, Nipawin
and Hudson Bay.

According to the RCMP, the Melfort-Naicam-Spalding area is also a meth
hot spot.

In January, a raid following an 18-month investigation culminated in
the arrest of 44-year-old Robert Okell of Naicam and 46-year-old Earl
Yeo of Spalding. Okell faces 14 charges of trafficking methamphetamine
and one charge of trafficking marijuana. Yeo is charged with three
counts of trafficking crystal meth and cannabis marijuana.

As a result of the investigation, police have also charged 30-year-old
Stephen Karaim of Westbank, B.C. with trafficking methamphetamine.
Robert Mears, 42, also faces 19 drug-related charges, including
conspiracy to traffic drugs and trafficking.

The arrests are a success story that show how tips from the public can
help lead police to dealers who are pushing the devastating drug, Jones said.

Prince Albert first saw crystal meth appear in the city in mid-January
of 1999, said RCMP Sgt. Al Hofland with the Prince Albert Joint Forces
Unit.

"I think it's fair to say we're seeing more of it, just based on what
we see coming through the door here," Hofland said. "Is it completely
out of control? I would suggest that it's not, as far as from a
policing perspective at this time."

In the northern community of La Ronge, meth only appeared last
November, said Wayne Kuffner, clinical supervisor for addictions in
the Mamawetan Churchill River Health Region.

"We haven't seen too much of it," he said. "Most of the ones that
we've worked with have actually came back to the communities and
they've (tried it) in P.A. ... They got into it down there and
returned to the community."

According to an undercover police officer with the Regina Integrated
Drug Unit, methamphetamine hasn't taken a hold on the city the way it
has in Saskatoon.

"In 2003, that's when our unit started to see meth, started to hear
about meth," said the officer, who can't be identified.

In 2002, the drug unit conducted only two investigations into
trafficking or possession for the purpose of trafficking meth and laid
three charges. By 2004, the unit had eight investigations on the go
and laid 11 charges. They haven't started keeping tabs on the
occurrence and possession of crystal meth specifically, he said.

Regina is more of a crack cocaine town, the officer said. It's a drug
Saskatoon police say they don't often see. The difference could just
be a matter of taste, the Regina officer said.

"(It's) no different than styles in clothing," he said. "Quebec, they
like wine and beer, Saskatchewan, they like whiskey. Sometimes it's
rum."

Meth is coming into Regina via Calgary, he said, but the southern
Alberta city has less of a problem than Edmonton.

Engele said he expects Saskatoon dealers with connections in Regina
are also introducing the drug to the Queen City.