A NEW DRUG OF CHOICE

Major Drug Bust Suggests Toronto Is Becoming A Hub For Heroin
Trafficking

Plastic bags of heroin packed into hollowed-out wooden pallets and
heroin wrapped in paper stamped "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan," --
hidden in machinery in a Toronto storage unit -- have formed what the
RCMP yesterday called one of the largest heroin busts in Canadian history.

It's a seizure that points to a rapidly developing heroin market in
Canada, police say, and suggests Toronto is becoming a trading hub for
the drug run by a network about which they have only just learned. The
heroin, 117 kilograms in total, has a street value of $100-million,
police said. Police also seized more than $545,000 in cash after
searching a Toronto address, and found another $100,000 in a storage
unit.

Thousands of wooden pallets are unloaded every day at Toronto's
Pearson International Airport, each bearing cargo to be picked up or
delivered across the country. About a month ago, one Canadian border
guard spotted something unusual in the cargo hold of a plane coming
from Pakistan.

The random search prompted an investigation by the Control Delivery
Team, a joint effort of the RCMP, Toronto Police and Peel Regional
Police. Police won't say what first piqued the border guard's
interest, but after dismantling the pallets holding household goods
destined for a Toronto address, the guards discovered plastic bags
containing about nine kilograms of heroin.

Searching the address turned up information on storage units in
Toronto and Brampton where police said they found machine parts
supposedly used for jewelry production. Opening the bottom of the
machines' pedestals, they found grey wrapping paper stamped with
purple ink reading "Islamic Republic of Afghanistan." Inside the
wrapping, they found a 108-kilogram stash of heroin.

Speaking in front of a table piled with the drug, an off-white powdery
substance packed into clear bags, alongside hollowed-out pallets, bags
packed with $20 and $50 bills, and beat-up machinery, RCMP
Superintendent Ron Allen, the officer in charge of the RCMP's GTA drug
squad, said the drug bust was the largest quantity of heroin he's seen
in his 35 years working with the RCMP. The heroin was shipped out of
Pakistan, although he said police don't yet know what city it came
from. Police believe the drugs originated in Afghanistan.

"How long has it been going on? You don't get to the point where you
can bring 120-kilograms or 130 kilograms of heroin into a market
without having some pretty good contacts and being in the business for
a while," he said. "That's somebody who's well-entrenched in the
heroin trade. That's somebody who you'd hope we would have some
indicators on before. The bigger question would be, how many other
groups have this capacity? That's what's worrisome."

Supt. Allen said between 70 and 80 kilograms of heroin is seized
nationally in a year. In 2008, the RCMP estimates 124 kilograms of
heroin was smuggled into the country.

"There has been a real cultural shift that we've seen here in Canada
over the last 4 or 5 years," he said. "We have seen a huge increase in
the amount of opium products coming into Canada, not just in the form
of heroin but certainly in the form of opium as well."

Supt. Allen said he doesn't yet know if the stash was all for use in
the Canadian drug market because the investigation is ongoing. But he
said Toronto is becoming a trading post for heroin importers and
exporters. "We're becoming a shipping country for heroin. It's
something we need to have a closer look at."

Supt. Allen wouldn't say in which city the drugs came off the shipping
boat, but said usually routes dock at Montreal or Halifax. The border
security at these ports is a huge issue, he added, and leaves the
country vulnerable to criminals who know the system.

"You've got some of these container ships that arrive with 4,000
containers. There's no way that we can check or clear them all," he
said. "Do you know how much that would delay the market? There's a
commercial side to this. Is it a problem? It is.

"I think Canadians should be concerned."

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan released a statement commending
the squad for the seizure. "This government's message is clear -- the
production, trafficking and distribution of illegal drugs in our
communities will not be tolerated." he said.