TWO-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR ONE OF 35 SUSPECTS

Crackdown On Cocaine Yields First Conviction

MANITOBA'S largest-ever cocaine crackdown yielded its first victory
yesterday when one of the 35 accused pleaded guilty in provincial court.

Buu Tang, 20, was sentenced to two years in a federal prison for his role in
the massive crack cocaine operation.

More than 200 officers were involved in a year-long investigation -- dubbed
Operation Devise -- which ended with a series of early-morning raids in May
1999.

Police used battering rams and police dogs to search 42 homes throughout the
city, arresting dozens of suspects and seizing more than $150,000 worth of
crack cocaine.

The suspects represented a cross-section of society -- from a 77-year-old
grandmother to middle-aged family men to teenagers.

Tang was 18 at the time of his arrest, and was the youngest of the group.

Police and prosecutors have spent much of the past year preparing the
complex drug case for a preliminary hearing this fall, which is scheduled to
last 18 weeks.

But yesterday, Tang opted out of the trial and pleaded guilty to conspiracy
to traffic cocaine.

Crown attorney Clyde Bond said the Winnipeg resident would receive shipments
of cocaine that he would deliver to other dealers for a profit.

Police used wire-taps to record dozens, if not hundreds, of phone
conversations he had with his customers, said Bond.

"This is about a pathetic, vulgar, insidious greed. The potential profits
are huge," said provincial court Judge Glenn Joyal, in endorsing the joint
recommendation for sentencing from the Crown and defence.

Court was told the drugs would be sold to a variety of people, including the
younger city bar crowd.

Defence lawyer Roberta Campbell said her client is one of 12 children in his
family and wanted to make a lot of money to put himself through university.

"He sees this as a terrible mistake on his part. Instead of making his
parents proud, he has brought them shame," she said.

Tang's guilty plea wasn't the only development in the case yesterday.

The Crown announced they were staying the charges against six other accused,
leaving only 28 people to stand trial.

Two of the remaining accused have eluded police for the past year and are
still wanted on Canada-wide warrants.

Unlike the equally large Manitoba Warriors trial, the accused in the drug
case will not be put on trial together.

Instead, the Crown has broken them down into eight "cells," which will all
stand trial separately.

However, those trials are not expected to begin until some time next year.