VANCOUVER IS CANADA'S DRUG 'WAREHOUSE-DISTRIBUTION CENTRE OF DRUGS'

The amount of drugs seized, the value of proceeds of crime intercepted, and
the number of people charged with drug-related offences increased -- in
some cases enormously -- in Vancouver in 2003, says the head of the
Vancouver police drug unit.

"Vancouver is the source city in a source country for drugs, and it's not
just marijuana -- it's cocaine, it's chemical drugs," said acting Inspector
Mark Horsley.

"Vancouver is the warehouse-distribution centre of drugs."

Horsley's drug unit had a record year in 2002, and then shattered those
numbers in 2003, seizing more than $87 million in drugs and drug money.

But that is still likely a small percentage of the total amount of drugs in
the city, he said.

"It comes in here, and it leaves from here, and it's used here --and I
think largely because there's not the resources put into enforcement and
the courts are quite lax in Canada compared to our neighbours in the
south," he said.

Horsley spoke to The Vancouver Sun about the Vancouver drug scene the same
day Statistics Canada released a massive report on drug offences across the
country.

The federal report shows that drug offences increased by 42 per cent across
Canada from 1992 to 2002. It also showed B.C. had the highest rate of drug
offences among the provinces -- and had been well above the national
average for 25 years.

The Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria ranked second and third
respectively behind Thunder Bay, Ont. for the highest number of drug
offences per capita in Canadian cities, and had shown high numbers for the
last decade, the report said.

But the drug situation in this province is not entirely reflected by the
country-wide findings in the Statistics Canada report.

While the report shows most of the drug offence increases across Canada
between 1992 and 2002 were linked to possession of marijuana, that is not
the case in B.C., where police have for years not charged people carrying a
few joints.

Across the country, the report shows trafficking offences have declined by
13 per cent since 1992, but Vancouver statistics show an increase in those
types of charges in recent years.

The Statistics Canada report also shows:

- - Drug use among youths increased over the last decade, and the age ranges
with the highest per capita rate of drug offences were 18 to 24 followed by
12 to 17;

- - Of the 684 drug-related homicides in Canada between 1992 and 2002, 19 per
cent were in the Lower Mainland;

- - In half of Canada-wide assaults, victims believed the crime was related
to the suspects' drug or alcohol use;

- - Cities near international airports or marine ports "have been major
access points for the movement of contraband in and out of the country . .
. . Organized crime groups in Lower Mainland B.C. are well situated
geographically to exploit the international trade of illicit drugs around
the Pacific Rim."

Horsley said he could not speak directly to the statistics in the federal
report, but said that in Vancouver drug-related charges grew from 897 in
2002 to 1,087 in 2003 and were all linked to trafficking or drug
production. None was for possession.

"We work on criminal organizations that profit from drug trafficking," he
said. "We don't care if someone has a gram of pot in their cigarette package."

The amount of marijuana seized in major operations in Vancouver jumped from
419 kilos in 2002 to 6,727 kilos in 2003.

"This isn't some kid in the back of high school smoking pot, this is all
about organized crime and money," Horsley said.

The number of marijuana growing operations busted in the city jumped from
351 in 2002 to 378 in 2003, but Horsley added: "We could do more if we had
more resources."

Seizures of cocaine -- which has remained popular in Vancouver and is
getting cheaper to buy -- also jumped from 14.1 kilograms in 2002 to 49.9
kilograms in 2003.

Also up significantly were ecstasy, magic mushrooms, and methamphetamines
- -- which were slower to become popular in Vancouver because of the
abundance of cocaine, he said.

Most of the drugs seized were for the Vancouver market, but Horsley has
seen an increase in the amount of contraband that was to be shipped to
Eastern Canada, the U.S., or beyond.

Horsley, who has been involved in drug enforcement for 18 years, has seen
street-level trafficking expand outside the Downtown Eastside into other
neighbourhoods such as District 1, which includes the West End, Yaletown
and downtown.

"My street crews are working in areas where there is lots of business
people, students, residents," he said.

The industry is not only growing, but also is more violent.

"One of the areas where we've seen a vast change has been in the violence
level of our subjects," he said. "We're seeing more fleeing suspects, more
fighting, and tons of weapons."

Vancouver seizures went up at a time when the number of officers in the
drug unit went down. The unit has an authorized strength of 31 officers,
but currently has 22 on the job.

The Vancouver police department is short-staffed because of massive early
retirements in 2002, but when more staff is hired Horsley would like to see
his section boosted to as many as 45 officers.

"My mandate is to suppress and disrupt drug-trafficking in the City of
Vancouver, and if I'm going to do that effectively and actually break up
distribution cells then I need more people," he said. "We're only able to
respond to a small percentage of citizen complaints.

"Where we'd like to go is to make it really difficult for that kid with his
allowance money to buy his first rock," Horsley added.

Corporal Scott Rintoul of the RCMP's drug enforcement branch said there is
evidence that more young people are now using drugs in B.C.

He said the province needs more treatment and prevention programs for young
people, and better role models to keep them clean.

"We still have this attitude among youth that drugs are not that dangerous,
they figure they are men and women of steel," he said.

Rintoul does not debate the findings of the federal report that B.C.'s
drug-offence rate is at an all-time high, but notes the people selling
drugs have become more powerful: "Never in the last 20 years has organized
crime been as heavily involved in the drug trade."

However, he said police are making an impact on organized crime, as well as
the drugs flowing across the border and from the ports into B.C.

Victoria police Inspector Bill Naughton said his city's third-worst ranking
for drug offences does not necessarily mean that B.C.'s quiet capital has a
festering drug problem. He said the chief instructed officers two years ago
to crack down on drugs in the downtown core, and therefore the statistics
reflect police enforcement -- not a huge increase of local users.

"When you increase your resources and you increase your focus on drug
enforcement, naturally your statistics are going to rise," he said.

"The borders around here are very porous. Like Vancouver, when you are a
port city you have obvious vulnerabilities."