'WE HIT HARD HERE'

Hull police arrest 24 in effort to eliminate trafficking in drugs

HULL'S JAIL was bursting at the bars yesterday after two dozen
suspected drug dealers were nabbed in one of the largest narcotics
busts in the city's history.

At about 9:30 a.m., more than 80 police officers simultaneously
swooped down on 14 addresses in Hull and two in Gatineau, arresting 24
people in connection with drug trafficking.

"This is probably one of the biggest operations in the history of
Hull," said police spokesman Lt. Yves Martel.

"It's the first operation so wide with so many accusations. It wasn't
a major bust in terms of the quantity of drugs seized, but the purpose
was to eliminate trafficking in Hull," he said. "We hit hard here today."

Dubbed "Project Incision," the raids were the culmination of a
six-month undercover investigation which started last November and
infiltrated two of Hull's major drug rings.

Confiscating marijuana, cocaine, magic mushrooms and hashish, police
said the people arrested yesterday ranged from street pushers to major
players in the Hull drug trade.

BABIES IN CUSTODY

Officers from Hull, Gatineau, Quebec provincial police and Canada
Customs were involved in the raids which resulted in the arrests of 18
men and six women.

Two babies and eight others under age 12 were also taken into custody
by the youth services department.

Six youth department workers assisted police. The children - who
ranged in age from one to 12 - will be put in foster homes or with
family members until their parents are released.

When the investigation is complete, police expect to make more than 40
arrests and lay 300 charges including drug trafficking, possession of
drugs for the purpose of trafficking and breach of probation.

Martel said the police had 15 "targets" in yesterday's raid with still
another 25 people they hope to arrest in the next few weeks.

"These people are identified, we know who they are and they are not
considered to be as serious threats," he said.

Martel said the raids took less than 15 minutes to complete and pulled
in a lot more drugs, evidence and suspects than expected.

There were so many arrests Hull police couldn't accommodate all the
suspects in their 21 jail cells. Seven suspects ended up in cells in
Gatineau and at QPP headquarters.

In addition to drugs, police also seized cars, computers, clothes,
CDs, cell phones, pagers and hydroponic growing equipment. About
$17,000 in cash was also collected.

Police are still totalling up both the value and quantity of drugs
seized.

A neighbour of one residence on Leduc St. said officers burst into the
home before dragging out three or four men and a pair of large attack
dogs.

GOING TO POT

- - MARCH 17: Police nab more than 100 marijuana plants from a
Val-des-Monts home after fire crews stumble upon a hydroponic drug
lab.

- - SEPTEMBER 1999: At least nine students are busted at a Hull high
school in September 1999 after police find hashish and marijuana.

- - September 1999: Police bust a West Carleton property and seize some
15,000 marijuana plants, cultivation equipment, and guns and ammunition.

- - AUGUST 1999: Police find more than 1,300 marijuana plants at a site
in Hagarty Twp. following a week-long sweep last August '99.

- - AUGUST 1999: A tip leads police to a $1-million pot bust at a
Cantley home. The home had been converted into a giant hydroponic lab
for growing marijuana plants. More than 1,100 plans and various
growing equipment is seized.

- - JULY 1999: Twenty QPP officers storm into a barn near Montebello to
find a major hydroponic marijuana operation.