NEIGHBOURS CHEER AS COPS RAID HOUSE

Neighbours cheered as police officers busted into a tiny home on 123
Avenue, and they continued cheering every time a marked car would
drive by, carting off more and more suspects to the local jail.

But none of the residents expect the drug house they've been living
beside for the last decade will be demolished.

Most anticipate that later this week they'll be back to watching out
their front windows, jotting down licence plate numbers and keeping a
close eye on all their possessions.

The Ridge Meadows RCMP drug section took down the house just after
lunch on Monday.

Inside, Cpl. John McDougall said his crew found a dozen tenants in
the small rancher. Along with the tenants, he said he found cocaine
and heroin, along with scads of used hypodermic syringes.

Eight of the residents were taken to jail to be photographed,
fingerprinted and charged.

The rest were free to go.

"You've got 12 people living all over this house. They're in there
and they're going around stealing from all the neighbours," McDougall
said following the raid.

McDougall, who has been with the Ridge Meadows detachment for four
months, said he's been watching the house since his first day.

This home, he said, is as frustrating for the drug section as it has
been for the residents on this otherwise peaceful street.

"We have 10 years of complaints here," he said.

The complaints, he explained, date back to 1996 when the owner of the
home was charged but never convicted.

"We're tired of this, and you think about the poor people who live
around here."

McDougall said he's heard of residents having their cars broken into
regularly. Just recently, he said, someone had their boat stolen.

"This is the street of terror," McDougall said.

One man, who said he lives across from the house, said he's had at
least $30,000 worth of equipment stolen from his yard.

Because of all the thefts, the man said he's equipped his property
with four security cameras.

Along with those living in the house, neighbours are also forced to
deal with the transients that come in and out of the home, trading
stolen goods for drugs.

Cars go up and down the street regularly, and one neighbour, who
didn't want to be named, said the ravine behind the house is full of
tents. It's a virtual campground for drug addicts, she said.

"I must have 50 cars a day turning around in my drive way," one
neighbour said in disgust.

"They're constantly fighting outside my bedroom window," another said.

"It's just a horror show. Every day it's a nightmare."

Many bought their homes in the neighbourhood unaware that the home
down the street would cause so much unrest.

Some neighbours have moved out, but others stay.

"Who's going to want to buy here?" one woman wondered.

Despite their enthusiasm for what the RCMP were doing on Monday, the
neighbours weren't dancing in the street just yet.

"They're gone for the day, but they'll be back this evening," one
neighbour predicted.

"I'm just glad that for the rest of the day I don't have to worry."