TIPS KEY TO BUSTS, COPS SAY

Montreal Police say cracking crack factories takes time, otherwise the
dealers and suppliers just keep coming back.

And with the drug squad stretched throughout the city, that means cleaning
up a neighbourhood can take time, says Commander Daniel Rondeau, head of
Station 20.

That might be of little solace to residents of the Tupper St. area, but
Rondeau says they should not become resigned to what's going on around them.

"I know residents have told you all sorts of things," Rondeau says in an
interview at the William St. police station. "But they also need to tell
us. We can only work on (the information) we get. Even if they just have a
brief description of a car or a suspect, they have to let us know."

Montreal police have stepped up foot patrols in the area in recent weeks,
Rondeau says.

Some of the dealers who moved into the Fort St.-Tupper area are probably
remnants of a crack-cocaine ring that was operating out of Habitation
Jeanne Mance near St. Laurent Blvd., police say.

That ring was busted by the vice squad last year.

The other dealers were already in the general area - working in
neighbourhoods north of Ste. Catherine St. - before moving in the summer to
the area known as the Shaughnessy Village, police say.

"There is a problem," says Constable John Parker, who walks the beat
regularly in the area. "The drug squad is aware of the situation. There
have already been arrests and there will be more arrests."

Police raided two buildings at the same time a few months ago. Drug-squad
detectives, canine units and SWAT team members armed with stun grenades
raided an apartment at 2077 Tupper St. and another at 2144 Tupper St. At
2077, police found six people in an apartment, crack cocaine and a loaded
revolver.

"The man living there was arrested for trafficking crack cocaine and
possession of a prohibited firearm," Parker says.

Simultaneously, police raided the other apartment, arresting a woman for
possession and trafficking crack cocaine. Before police could get their
hands on the evidence, she swallowed 15 rocks of crack cocaine and had to
be taken to hospital.

Parker and his foot patrol partner, Constable Andre Leclerc, have even made
arrests themselves for possession and breaking and entering.

"You have to get the information to make the arrest and the evidence to
take it to court and make it stick," Parker says.

In the Jeanne Mance case, police took almost a year to gather information
before arresting a number of dealers, including one as young as 14. The
housing project had essentially become a drug den before police moved in
last October.

In another case, police broke up a crack ring on 55th Ave. in St. Michel's
Jean-Rivard district in April. The ring had been in operation for eight
years, had gone as far as putting up video surveillance, and was selling
about 400 rocks daily. The investigation took months of surveillance and
preparation.

While the crack-cocaine problem isn't as bad in the Shaughnessy Village as
it is in other places around the island, Rondeau says he understands
residents' concerns and will meet with them this month to discuss what
steps the police are taking.

City councillor and executive-committee member Louise O'Sullivan says
there's always been a problem in Shaughnessy Village.

"There are lots of problems here - a poverty issue, a problem with
itinerants. It's obvious the people who hang out at Cabot Square and two
other little parks in the area, they're not all there, they're depressed
and marginalized and they are perfect targets."