TARGETED DRUG DEALERS VANISH AFTER MASSIVE POLICE ROUNDUP

Two months after a massive police sweep that targeted dozens of alleged
crack dealers, a Sun investigation has found almost one in three of those
wanted by police are missing and all but two of the nine sentenced so far
received 45 days in jail or less.

Project Scoop was one of the largest mass arrests in Vancouver's history.
On October 14, after a two-week undercover operation, Vancouver police
fanned out across the city looking for more than 70 suspected crack dealers.

The investigation focused on the heart of the city's drug trade -- the
Downtown Eastside. TV newscasts and newspapers featured pictures of drug
dealers in handcuffs, filing into police wagons and being driven away to
justice.

At a press conference at police headquarters, officers had plastered one of
the walls with colour photos of the accused dealers -- some smiling as if
they were posing for graduation pictures.

Police told reporters they were inundated with calls from the community
thanking them for fighting back against the drug trade.

But what happened thereafter to the dozens of alleged drug dealers is a bit
of a mystery.

Police spokeswoman Constable Anne Drennan said the department tried to keep
track of the cases for awhile but was unsuccessful. Asked for a list of all
those charged -- Drennan said "there is not a list in existence right now
that anyone can put their hands on."

The department of justice, responsible for prosecuting the federal drug
charges, deals with each case individually and hasn't kept track of those
arrested in Project Scoop as a group.

And although as many as 70 per cent of the suspects in Scoop are believed
to be non-Canadians, Immigration Canada hasn't kept track of the cases as a
group either.

Two months after the sweep, an analysis by The Vancouver Sun of 59 Project
Scoop drug cases -- compiled from court records and media reports -- raises
questions about the operation's legacy. Among the findings:

- - More than 30 per cent of the suspects are still at large, including six
people who have never been found by police. One in five suspects were
arrested, released and then failed to show up for their court date. Bench
warrants have been issued for their arrest. Police suspect many of them may
have escaped to the United States.

- - In more than half of the 59 cases surveyed, 30 people are still awaiting
trial -- in most cases with court dates not scheduled until next summer or
fall. Almost all are out free while they wait.

- - Of the nine people already convicted and sentenced -- including many with
past drug charges -- seven received 45 days in jail or less. Two were
sentenced to only one day in jail, and two received no jail time at all.
The longest sentence handed down was four months.

- - More than one in three (37 per cent) had drug charges before Project
Scoop. Another five suspects have been charged with other drug offences
since Scoop.

Inspector Gary Greer heads District 2, the downtown precinct that carried
out Project Scoop. He expressed frustration when told of The Sun's findings.

"I don't think any of those sentences are a deterrent to anybody from
engaging in a very lucrative business," he said. "These people are in it
for the profit. There's a lot of money involved. So if they're not deterred
in some way -- they're just going to keep at it."

Even those that normally applaud the leniency of Vancouver's courts said
many of those caught in Project Scoop deserve harsher sentences than they
received.

John Turvey, executive director of the Downtown Eastside Youth Activities
Society (DEYAS) and a resident of the area for more than 20 years, said
drug addicts who deal to support their habit should be offered treatment,
not locked away. But many of those targeted in Scoop were non-users dealing
for money.

"If you're a non-user and you're exploiting other people's misery by
dealing drugs to them -- do the crime, do the time," Turvey said.

Greer confirmed most of those in Scoop were not user-dealers desperate for
treatment. "It wasn't an issue of somebody trying to support their own
habit," he said. "Most of these people are the classic predator. They're
out destroying people's lives and dealing in death."

Police and activists are also concerned the light sentences will make it
more difficult to remove those who are not Canadians from the country.

While the immigration department hasn't kept track of those involved in
Project Scoop, police said at the time of the arrests that as many as 50 of
the 70 suspects were not Canadian citizens -- and many of them were from
Central America.

Most of those are believed to have claimed refugee status when they first
arrived in this country. And the only way to stop the refugee process and
have an applicant deported is if officials can convince the federal
immigration ministry the person is a danger to the public.

Being convicted of a serious offence, like drug trafficking, can be
considered evidence of dangerous behaviour. But the litmus test is how
serious the courts deem the offence -- something that is usually determined
by what type of sentence they receive.

"If they're getting an absolute discharge, a conditional discharge or one
day in jail -- that's not appearing as if it's very serious," said Rob
Johnston, manager of enforcement for Immigration Canada. "We need
information to support that the person is a danger to the public."

While the court cases of those involved in Project Scoop seem unlikely to
force any deportations, Johnston said several people wanted by immigration
on other matters -- some with removal orders already issued -- turned up in
the sweep and have been sent home. Others are known to have left of their
own volition, but Johnston said no statistics have been kept on those
involved in Scoop.

Many on the east side believe that while some Scoop suspects have fled to
the U.S. for now, they will soon be back. "The rumour mill is there's a
likelihood some of these folks will be back when the weather warms up,"
Turvey said.

Not everyone thinks longer sentences are the answer, however. Neil Boyd, a
criminologist at Simon Fraser University and an expert on drug policy, said
throwing more dealers in jail would be a waste of money. "Do we want to
spend $75,000 per person, per year, to incarcerate [these dealers] when
we've got people committing much more serious crime that we are in much
more need of protection from?" he asks.

"It's not as if these people are out engaging in rape and murder and armed
robbery. They're selling desperate people drugs they want."

While Greer defends Project Scoop for making at least some dent in the
east-side drug problem, he agrees police action alone can't solve the problem.

"What we're doing is a very short-term, narrow-focused solution," he said.
"People have complained [and] we took some action ... But in terms of the
long-term effects of the drug issue -- unless we get a sobering centre, a
detox, a continuum of treatment and all those kinds of things, then we're
really on a treadmill here."

Almost everyone involved in the issue agrees there is a desperate lack of
drug treatment in B.C. Turvey said DEYAS only has three treatment beds for
youth -- forcing the agency to turn away about 40 people for every one it
takes in.

"It's absolutely scandalous," said Deb Mearns, coordinator of the Downtown
Eastside Neighbourhood Safety Office. "Why do we have such a huge addiction
problem? Because we don't have any services for people."

Boyd said "what's needed is to ask ourselves, as a society, whether we see
this [drug problem] as a fundamental problem of criminal law or whether we
see this as a problem of public health. Because all of our solutions are in
the realm of criminal law."

While Project Scoop -- and other operations like it -- do little to stop
the fundamental drug problem in Vancouver, activists in the area said Scoop
did make a difference on the streets.

"We haven't seen it this quiet in years," said Mearns. "We didn't think
[Project Scoop] would have as much of an effect as it has had. It's quite
amazing."

Turvey agreed Scoop had an impact. "If the police are going to continue to
do drug busts, I hope it's of that nature and that calibre," he said.
"Because it did make a difference."

But those living in the east side are unsure about how long things will
stay quiet -- especially when so many of those targeted are already back on
the street. And no one -- not police, not activists, not criminologists --
believes the problem has disappeared.

Greer himself said Scoop "did not have long-range, wide-sweeping goals."
The operation's purpose was to "send a message to the drug community that
we're out there and we're doing stuff ... To reduce the number of drug
pushers on the street, which we've done, and at least make them more
discreet with what they were doing."

Boyd worries the public and governments are more interested in hiding the
drug problem than solving it. "Drug use and drug distribution have been
here for 50 years or more. But more recently the drug use has become
increasingly visible and I think these sweeps are not really a reaction to
the phenomenon of drug use and distribution but to the visibility of it,"
he said.

"I understand the concerns of people about having this activity out of the
public eye and that's a reasonable enough goal ... But let's not pretend
it's anything more than that."

PROJECT SCOOP:

The Vancouver Sun researched 59 Project Scoop drug cases to see what
happened in the two months since the mass arrest. As of mid-December, of
those 59 cases:

6 (10.2%) still have their original arrest warrants out on them.

12 (20.3%) have bench warrants issued for their arrest.

9 (15.3%) have been sentenced

1 ( 1.2%) is waiting to be sentenced.

1 (1.2%) had his charges stayed by the crown.

30 (50.8%) are still awaiting trial

Of the 59 charged in Project Scoop:

22 (37.3%) had previous drug charges.

5 (8.5%) have been charged with drug offences since Project Scoop.

10 (16.9%) have been charged at least once for failing to appear at a court
date relating to Scoop.

The average age of Project Scoop suspects is 28.3 years

54 (91.5%) of the suspects are male and 5 (8.5%) are female.

Checked-by: Richard Lake