DRUG-RELATED VEHICLE SEIZURE LAW PARKS DIAL-A-DOPERS

The Alberta government and local police are targeting dial-a-doper
drug operations in Edmonton under a civil act that allows the
province to seize property and sell it before the owner is convicted,
Alberta's Justice Minister Alison Redford said on Thursday.

"This law was developed to disrupt the daily business of gangs and to
try to prevent the victimization of our communities--and it's
working," Redford said.

"The only thing these mobile dealers require to run their drug
business is a car and a cellphone. If we can seize the car of a drug
dealer, that's one less drug dealer doing business."

The Victims Restitution and Compensation Payment Act became law last fall.

It allows the province's Civil Forfeiture Office to ask the court to
seize illegally acquired property and property used in crimes.

Property valued at about $11 million, including 61 vehicles, has been
seized since the province introduced the act, Redford said.

Forty-three of the vehicles seized under the act were in Edmonton, she said.

While the Civil Forfeiture Office can sell an accused person's
property before court cases are concluded, the law does not sidestep
the criminal process, Edmonton police Chief Mike Boyd said.

"For many different reasons previous to this legislation, we were
telling our communities we're out there, we're working for you," Boyd said.

"The problem was communities didn't feel that immediate difference
because these criminals and criminal organizations were able to
continue to operate.

"The effectiveness of this legislation enables us to make an
immediate difference that's going to help disrupt, dismantle and stop
these criminals from operating."

The government was met with skepticism last year when the law was
introduced, but the Supreme Court of Canada has reviewed similar
legislation in Ontario and ruled it is not unconstitutional, Redford said.

"The people who were skeptical last year as to whether or not we'd be
able to have our legislation upheld were proven wrong. The
legislation is constitutional. We haven't had any constitutional
challenges here," she said.

The money raised after the Civil Forfeiture Office auctions of the
property goes into a victim's compensation fund for people directly
affected by crime or for organizations who help people affected by
crime, Redford said.