DEALERS TURN TO HOMELESS TO PLAY ROLE OF DRUG MULE

Homeless men in Toronto are being recruited by organized crime to smuggle
dope into Canada with offers of cash and stays in top Caribbean hotels, the
Toronto Sun reported Friday.

The RCMP said gangs hire scouts to scour hostels and shelters to find
smugglers, who are flown to the Caribbean and paid to return to Canada after
ingesting pellets of cocaine wrapped in condoms.

"This is a new trend we are experiencing," Sgt. Frank Gougeon said.

"It is a well-organized scheme that preys on the vulnerable."

Gougeon said that since January, his drug officers have arrested six
homeless men at Pearson International Airport trying to smuggle dope they
had swallowed. He said nearly all the men are dressed as street people and
have no fixed addresses.

RCMP said the men are given a week, or sometimes two, at all-inclusive
Caribbean resorts, where they're met by handlers and instructed on what to
eat, how to ingest the dope and what to do and say if stopped by police.

RCMP said most of the men don't care if they're arrested and jailed because
then they'll have a place to stay.