'NOT A GOOD DAY TO BE A DRUG DEALER'

Police Promise Not To Rest On Their Laurels Following The Biggest Drug
Bust In City History

SAINT JOHN - The world of drug dealers is a murky place governed by
paranoia and populated by cagey and shadowy figures. If police want to
infiltrate that world, they have to become part of it.

Operation Portland, which netted 48 people and resulted in 120
charges, used three undercover officers who infiltrated street-level
and mid-level drug dealers. For six months they lived in a world that
most only see on TV or read about in the news.

Const. Darin Clarke was one of three undercover officers used in the
operation. Calling them drug cells, Clarke said undercover officers
had to assume a believable role. "The drug world is constantly
changing," Clarke said.

Looking from the outside in wasn't an option.

Police set up a number of fake companies to build covers for the
officers. They were set up as common citizens yet unbeknownst to their
targets - the drug dealers - there was nothing common about the people
they were selling drugs to.

"We were surprised at how high (Clarke) could infiltrate," said Sgt.
John Wilcox, who headed the operation.

The drug buys were made on the street and in bars from a cross-section
of dealers. Mid-level dealers supply the street dealers. In at least
one case, a wire - a recording device hidden on an officer or
informant - was used and intelligence gathered.

While the undercover officer played a game of cat and mouse with a
particular target, a team of police officers watched and waited. With
an agreed upon signal, the cover team would rush in and bring the
operation to an end.

But that never happened.

"There were all kinds of moments - not knowing who was coming through
the door," Clarke said in a non-chalant tone as he sat in an office
chair and leaned to one side.

But, said Clarke, it's not bravado. It's just a job.

Even the street level dealers are carrying guns or weapons of some
kind. Those weapons are mostly to protect themselves from other
dealers and not police. Infighting is rampant and the competition
often steals drugs and money from each other.

"To date we haven't reached that level of threat," Wilcox
said.

Most of the drug buys involved crack cocaine. The marijuana that was
purchased was used to build trust and get to the next level.

In a small city the drug world is just as tiny. All the players know
each other and that complicates the final days of the operation.
Arrests have to be planned so the warning can't be sounded to other
dealers, some of whom often live right next door.

"It's an extremely daunting task," said Clarke.

One of the north end homes raided by the force's heavily armed
emergency services unit was the target of a drive-by shooting earlier
in the year. When police raided the house, they found drugs and a 9mm
pistol.

With the six-month operation winding down, the days have become long
and the sleep rare for the officers involved in the operation. On
Wednesday, all three courtrooms at provincial court were pressed into
service to deal with the people netted in Operation Portland.

"To close the operation is bloody exhausting," said Wilcox, the bags
evident under his eyes and his speech dragging. "It's a feverish pace."

While the operation hit almost every part of the city, the
drug-plagued old north end was front and centre.

Following the arrests, which began on Oct. 18, Wilcox said the
cellphones that north end drug dealers use to run their businesses
have fallen silent and are not being answered. An eerie calm hangs
over the streets.

"You could drive over and hear a pin drop," Wilcox said. "She's quiet.
It's nice to see the community get a break from it."

For Clarke, Operation Portland was the most successful operation he's
ever been involved in during his nine years as an undercover officer.

Not only were 48 people arrested, more than he's seen in one
operation, he caught two people he's been chasing for almost decade.

"Not a good day to be a drug dealer," Clarke said.

And for those who slid under the net this time, Wilcox said there will
be a next time.

"Who we didn't get this month we'll get next month or the month
after," Wilcox said. "The gloves are off. We're coming."