BIGGEST COCAINE BUST MARKS TURNING POINT FOR CITY

"I'd like to think that what you see in front of us is not commonplace."

As he utters this understatement that induces nervous laughter in the
crowd gathered around him, Staff Sgt. Darren Cave moves his hand
across a table like a spokesmodel showing off prizes on a TV game show.

Indeed, the items here are coveted objects, albeit not for your
typical law-abiding citizen. There's a collection of well-worn
firearms, ranging from a .22-calibre handgun to an enormous rifle
sporting finger-length bullets, and black body armour.

But the piece de resistance of the display sitting atop a white
tablecloth is the cocaine, nearly 80 kilograms of it, packaged in
plastic-covered blocks stacked five-high--that from a distance look
like patio bricks--and stretching across the entire length of the table.

It's a Hollywood-style staging Monday morning, courtesy of the
Calgary Police Service, showing off the spoils from the biggest
cocaine bust in Alberta history.

The Tinseltown moniker of the intricate investigation, Operation High
Noon, brings to mind more 1983's Scarface than any spaghetti western, though.

And the criminally coveted white stuff also has a Hollywood-worthy
price tag: it goes for between $1,300 and $1,800 an ounce, with the
final bill for the confiscated cocaine being more than $8 million.
Seeing the bald, burly Cave standing over it like a hunter with its
kill adds the dramatic finishing touch.

But this is real life, far from any film studio. Operation High Noon,
a police investigation that concluded last December and was a year in
the making, snagged the cocaine bundles, the guns and $330,000 in
cash and criminal charges against 14 people, thanks also to help from
city police and RCMP in several Alberta and B. C. municipalities.

Cave, the drug unit's go-to guy on this day, walks a tightrope as a
throng of media circles the table over which he stands.

While he wants to put a spotlight on the service's brilliant work in
cracking what the Crown will argue is a sophisticated crime network,
he also doesn't want to fan the flames of fear among the citizenry
about the city's booming drug trade.

He acknowledges that a high volume of cocaine passes through our
city, that this is just one criminal organization caught, and that
it's an ongoing problem.

And that, even with 14 people charged in this latest investigation,
they likely don't have any of the top guys in the organization.

"They never really shut down," he says in response to one question
about the effectiveness of such a swoop. "Criminals, that's all they know."

The fact is, drugs and the drug trade have been growing in this city
in leaps and bounds over the past decade.

A 2005 CPS statistical report showed drug offences increasing by 30
per cent over a six-year period, trafficking offences going up by 49
per cent and crack cocaine offences up by 113 per cent.

In 2007, more than $3.6 million in cocaine was seized by police, more
than double the year before --which represented a record up to that point.

So, this whopping $8-million haul is indeed a remarkable achievement
on the part of the local police, but it also represents a turning
point for our city that should cause great concern.

In the back of the room on this day, far from the glare of the TV
cameras, stands a trio of plain-clothed officers who have a pretty
good idea of what we're all up against.

They're happy to let Cave have the limelight, and they have a good
laugh witnessing his Hollywood moment as he poses for the cameras,
his elbows on top of the spoils. But they turn serious when asked
about the challenges of their job.

"Back in the mid-1990s, we couldn't find hardly anyone on the street
trying to sell cocaine," says one of the senior officers involved in
Operation High Noon, who for obvious safety reasons can't be identified.

"Now, it's no problem," he says. When they began Operation High Noon,
they had no idea what they were about to uncover.

"Nothing like I've ever seen before," says one of the men, while the
other adds: "You're looking at sophisticated organized crime . . .
moving almost to the cartel level."

But on this day when they celebrate the biggest cocaine bust in the
province's history, they're feeling upbeat.

Last month's Operation Endeavour, which targeted drug-infested
inner-city neighbourhoods, resulted in 93 arrests. The 66 new foot
patrols, given the equally Hollywood-sounding "Beat Team,"will allow
police to keep a better eye on street-level activity. And while the
criminals get more sophisticated with every year, the police are
getting to know them, and their tricks, better.

"With every investigation, we get smarter," says Cave, relishing the
evidence before him that, on this day at least, demonstrates the
police can sometimes outsmart the bad guys.