ECONOMIST MAGAZINE CALLS B.C. ANOTHER COLOMBIA

Police Forces Bicker As Drug Trade Spatters Streets With Blood

(CNS) - Vancouver's reputation suffered another black eye this week
after a story in an international magazine compared British Columbia
to Colombia, a country infamous for drugs, cartels and violence.

In an article titled "British Columbia or Colombia?" the Economist
said organized crime had brought fear and violence to Vancouver's streets.

"Canada remains one of the world's safest countries, but in recent
years Vancouver, B.C.'s largest city, has gained notoriety for gun
crime, especially among drug gangs," said the article, going on to
cite the nearly 450 gangsters killed in Vancouver since 1997.

The article quotes Pat Fogarty, a senior officer in the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, linking Vancouver's drug war to a crackdown
on drug trafficking in Mexico and the United States disrupting the
cocaine distribution chain to Canada, putting supply at a premium.

The article points the finger of blame in part at jurisdictional
conflicts between the various police services charged with keeping
the Lower Mainland safe. Rob Gordon, a criminologist at Simon Fraser
University, told the Economist that past efforts to create an agency
to fight drug gangs have foundered on conflicts among the various
participating police forces.

"Despite some recent high-profile arrests of gangsters, Vancouver's
local police admit they are not winning the war," the article states.
"They complain of having fewer officers per head of population than
other big Canadian cities.

"The provincial government is planning a $20-million cut in annual
spending on police and the courts by 2012. The gangsters, by
contrast, are well funded and have little trouble replacing those
lost in shoot-outs."

Last month, the Independent, a British newspaper, described Vancouver
as a "blood-splattered" city.