POLICE LAUD DIAL-A-DOPER'S SENTENCE

Delta Dealer Got A Four-Year Prison Sentence And No Reduction For Time
Served

Delta police say the four-year prison term handed the ringleader of a
dial-a-dope scheme that operated in South Delta for at least a year
should act as a strong deterrent to anyone thinking of entering the
illicit drug trade.

Christien (Chris) Cameron, 28, originally charged with nine counts of
drug trafficking, was scheduled to go to trial in April, but instead
pleaded guilty to two counts of cocaine trafficking on Wednesday. The
remaining charges were stayed.

He was sentenced, in Surrey Provincial Court, to four years in prison
without the benefit of time served. That's significant, Delta police
Const. Sharlene Brooks said.

Usually accused are given double credit for time awaiting trial.
Cameron was held for six months.

Had the judge given Cameron credit for time served, the sentence would
have been closer to three years.

Cameron was the second of 12 arrested in the dial-a-dope scheme to be
sentenced. Jonathan Da Cruz also pleaded guilty last month and was
given one year in prison.

In a dial-a-dope scheme, traffickers use cellphones to take calls from
customers. Runners deliver the drugs and collect payment. Once their
shift ends, cellphones and pagers are turned over to the next person.

This "sends a strong message to individuals engaged in drug
trafficking that if they wish to conduct such activities in our
community, they will be investigated and brought before the courts,"
Delta police Supt. Brad Parker said.

Police plan to emphasize that message as the months go by because they
don't want someone filling the gap left by Cameron and the estimated
10 to 15 drug runners who worked for him. Most of those runners have
been arrested and are awaiting trial or sentencing.

The group's drug supply came from two organized crime groups, police
claim.

"We can say that some of the [seized] cocaine ... has been sold by
Asian organized crime and there are indications that some of the
cocaine came from the Hells Angels," Parker said at the time of the
arrests and drug seizures last September.

The group supplied local teenagers and young adults with crack
cocaine, powdered cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy.