POLICE BEEF UP DRUG TEAM AFTER BUST

Lethbridge police are working to expand their special operations unit in
the wake of a huge drug bust resulting from a six-month undercover
operation that targeted street-level drug dealers.

Nineteen people have been charged over the past 22 weeks with a total of 65
offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Fourteen have been arrested and will appear in court over the next few
weeks. Five are being sought with warrants for their arrests.

Police seized methamphetamine, marijuana, psilocybin (mushrooms) and
hashish as well as a 1998 Chevy Cavalier allegedly used to deliver drugs.

About half of those arrested were allegedly what police call
"dial-a-dopers" in which cellphones were used to make drug deals and then
passed on from dealer to dealer to maintain a 24-hour operation.

Nearly $20,000 worth of illicit drugs were seized.

Sgt. Jamie Fisher confirmed the undercover operation is just one of several
recent drug busts in the community that has forced Lethbridge police to
increase resources dealing with that type of crime.

The special operation unit of the Lethbridge Police Service's organized
crime section will be expanding this month, hiring and training three
additional constables, bringing the staff total to five working under one
sergeant by October.

"This operation has revealed a trend," Fisher said Wednesday. "It has put a
strain on our resources and we have to look at enhancing them."

Fisher, along with Lethbridge Mayor Bob Tarleck, believes drug crime is on
the rise in smaller cities like Lethbridge due to wide-ranging efforts to
crack down on drug crime in bigger centres.

This summer, Solicitor General Heather Forsyth said Alberta will spend $3.5
million to create a task force to tackle organized crime. The unit is made
up of 32 officers from Calgary and Edmonton.

Fisher said criminals are quick to catch on to that type of pressure.

"These guys aren't stupid. They're aware of the pressure in big cities and
they will spill out."

Tarleck adds that economic and population growth are natural factors in
increased organized crime.

But officials are also concerned about the development of a major trade
corrider called the Canamex Highway, which runs all the way from Mexico, up
through the western United States, through the Coutts border crossing and
up to Lethbridge, Calgary and Edmonton.

Such a direct north-south route, which already exists along many major
highways including Highway 2 through Lethbridge and Calgary, could bring
more drug traffickers into the community.

With the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge Community College, Tarleck
said, "we have 14,000 post-secondary students here. . . . There's no
question that can be a real enticement to drug dealers."

Since last year's arrival of new police Chief John Middleton-Hope, who came
to Lethbridge from the Calgary Police Service, a comprehensive review of
the department has shown a strain on human resources within the organized
crime division, particularly since undercover investigations are so
time-intensive, requiring a 24-hour commitment by officers.

"It's a huge commitment, where officers have to live and breathe the drug
trade . . . they have to befriend and then betray," Fisher said.

Of those arrested in connection with the drug bust, 14 were from the
Lethbridge area. One is underage, a 16-year-old boy who faces three counts
of trafficking.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Calgary residents Maurizio Gaudio, 38,
and Francisco Iulietto, 33, as well as three Lethbridge residents.