CRACK COCAINE A GROWING PROBLEM

The second police sting this summer to produce a string of drug-related
arrests points to the growing use of crack cocaine in Regina.

"From our experience, it's becoming more of a problem," said Sgt. Rick
Bourassa of the Regina Police Service.

"We haven't seen a lot of it in the province, but it seems to becoming more
prevalent. I suppose if there's a demand, someone will supply that demand.
Why there's a demand, I don't know."

Six male Regina residents made their first court appearance Friday on
charges of trafficking in cocaine. The appearance came 24 hours after
Regina police and RCMP officers capped a five-month drug investigation by
executing search warrants inside eight local homes.

Five of the men who appeared in court Friday were believed to be
Laotian-Canadians and required the assistance of an interpreter. The men
repeatedly told the judge they understood "not much" English.

Xieng Saphithak, 38, Chay Chansy, 38, Tho Somphothirath, 36, Vilaysith
Korasak, 42, and Sisouk Sivongsa, 36 are charged with trafficking cocaine,
conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession of the proceeds of crime and
conspiracy to possess the proceeds of crime. Sivongsa and the sixth man,
Bradley Daniel Roth, 39, are also charged with possession for the purpose
of trafficking.

Saphithak, Chansy, Somphothirath and Korasak are also charged with
benefiting a criminal organization. Chansy and Korasak are charged with
possession of a prohibited weapon (martial arts sticks called nunchakus).

"They're a criminal organization in that they're (allegedly) working
together in crime," Bourassa said. The group are not suspected of
affiliation with any of Canada's better-known criminal gangs, he said.

Sivongsa is scheduled return to court Monday afternoon. Roth is scheduled
to return on Sept. 26. The other four had their cases adjourned until Tuesday.

Federal Crown prosecutor David Bishop told Judge Dennis Fenwick the men are
part of "a sophisticated and co-ordinated cocaine trafficking network
operating in Regina and in British Columbia."

Outside court, Bishop said the men are believed to be Regina residents but
flight risk is a concern if the men were granted bail.

Bourassa did not know the value or amount of drugs seized Thursday.

"(Police seized) cocaine, crack cocaine, money and a number of vehicles."
He said the cocaine was moving eastward from Vancouver. "It's an ongoing
flow of money and drugs back and forth."

As part of the same operation, Surrey RCMP searched two locations in that
Greater Vancouver municipality Thursday and arrested two men and a woman.

Khamsong Phaysith, 44, Phaleuhath Louanglath, 37 and Malyvan Korasak, 38,
will be brought to Regina to appear in court on Monday. Phaysith is charged
with being the leader of an organized crime group.

Thursday's operation was the second major cocaine-related bust in Regina in
two months.

In July, Regina police and the RCMP seized about 1.5 kilograms of cocaine
from a north Regina apartment. With a street value of $115,000, it was
believed to be the largest cocaine seizure ever in Regina. About two thirds
of the cocaine was crack -- the highly potent, smokable form of the drug.
When two of the four people charged with trafficking appeared in court,
they also used a Laotian interpreter. It's not known if the latest arrests
have any connection to the July bust.