CENTRAL AMERICAN COCAINE DEALERS TOUGH NUT TO CRACK

They're Organized, They're Motivated, They Don't Do Drugs And They're Very
Tough To Bust.

Insp. Bob Rolls, in announcing a buy-'n'-bust crackdown on the Downtown
Eastside, conceded that Hondurans and other Central American crack-cocaine
dealers are a tough nut to crack.

"They work shifts -- some of them work day shifts, some work night shifts,"
said Rolls, contrasting these dealers with most Canadian-born dealers, who
themselves are crack addicts and often just smoke the profits. "They work
together -- one will be dealing while the other is looking out for police.

"They'll have mules to carry their drugs or their money, so if they're
searched they won't have any evidence.

"They carry the crack in their mouths. They carry water with them, and if
police approach they'll just swallow the evidence."

Coming from dirt-poor nations, the riches of Canada are enticing -- $500 a
month on welfare, plus up to $200 a day dealing crack.

Three months in jail, Rolls argues, isn't enough to stop a flood of
would-be dealers looking for Canadian wealth that can easily be sent home
to family and friends.

He believes minimum sentences of at least six months are needed to stop the
steady stream of immigrants happy to risk a relatively short jail term in
exchange for a small fortune by Honduran standards.