TABER CRACK FLOW BUSTED

A "pipeline" of crack cocaine from Calgary to the town of Taber took a
major hit Monday.

Operation Krackdown, an eight-month-long, joint-forces investigation, has
decimated a portion of Calgary's organized drug trade and pinched the flow
to its affiliates to the south.

Police said large quantities of crack cocaine were being funnelled to
Taber, 270 kilometres southeast of Calgary, to feed the town's growing
addiction problems.

At the same time as Calgary's newest police team, the targeted enforcement
unit, narrowed in on kingpins and sellers in this city, police in Taber
were investigating an increase in crack cocaine trafficking and
drug-related property crimes there.

A link was made between a Calgary organized crime group and Taber's
problems, and a police operation was launched last May.

"I suspect we've now dismantled this group," said Calgary police Staff Sgt.
Derek Curtis. "Hopefully, through today's work, it will lead us up the food
chain."

On Monday, police officers with numerous law enforcement agencies --
including the RCMP, the Taber Police Service and the Criminal Intelligence
Service Alberta -- swooped down on eight Calgary and Taber locations armed
with search warrants.

By the end of the day, 15 people had been charged with 21 criminal and
drug-related offences. No names have been released.

The fact the crack cocaine was coming from Calgary was not surprising to
Insp. Graham Abela of the Taber Police Service.

"It's the way the drug world works. It's our understanding it comes, quite
often, from larger centres," he said.

Abela said he knows the stream of illegal drugs is a difficult issue to tackle.

"Our community was calling out for help and we took the steps to try to
help them," he said.

"I don't think we're naive enough to say that these parts of investigations
will completely eradicate crack cocaine and cocaine in our community, but
we hope it has an impact."

Drugs were seized from three Taber homes. Abela would not release the
quantity or street value of the drugs.

Calgary police said Krackdown was just the tip of the iceberg and there
will soon be other similar joint-forces operations.

Calgary police "will be conducting investigations like Operation Krackdown
with the goal of disrupting or dismantling organized crime groups operating
in Calgary," said Curtis.