RCMP HAMMER DRUG DENS

A War On Drugs Is Heating Up In The Bulkley Valley.

On April 28, Hazelton RCMP busted a marijuana grow operation worth an
estimated $100,000 on the street.

An adult man was arrested and 100 plants were seized.

As reported in the April 19 edition of The Interior News, Hazelton
RCMP are aggressively targeting dope dealers in response to a call
from council and seven First Nations communities to concentrate
police efforts on youth and drugs.

The latest raid was the third warrant executed by Hazelton cops in as
many weeks but they're not stopping at that.

The detachment has been putting out threatening public communiques
alerting pushers to beware.

See DEALERS on Page A2

"We are still aware of some individuals in our community who continue
to traffic drugs," the latest release stated. "A warning to these
people: Don't complain about your broken door, your abrupt awakening
or your legal expenses. You cannot say we did not warn you.

People don't want you for their neighbour, so give some thought to
moving far away."

Earlier notifications were no less blunt.

"If you are trafficking illicit drugs, you can expect a certain and
intrusive entry into your residence from the police," stated the
first release from Cpl. Warren Brown.

"You can also expect to be arrested. If you have children in your
residence, you can expect that they may be taken away by authorities
for their safety and well-being.

A week later it was: "If you sell drugs, we are coming for you. It's
not a matter of if, but rather when."

Brown was unapologetic for the harsh tactics.

"These releases are strongly-worded because we want the people who
have been doing this for a long time to realize the community is not
going to turn a blind eye anymore and neither are the police."

Meanwhile, Smithers RCMP also continue to target pushers. In the
latest of a series of dope raids, police executed a warrant on a
Smithers residence April 22, seized 10 grams of cocaine and an
undisclosed amount of money and arrested one woman.

Earlier in April two other drug dens in Smithers were raided
resulting in the confiscation of cocaine, marijuana and an
undisclosed amount of money that Smithers Sgt. Ray Haugen described
as the "proceeds of crime."

Haugen said the crackdown is not just about the drugs.

"It's not a secret that a lot of our property crime is related to
drug abuse, so that's one area we've targeted to try and address the
other areas," he said.

"The Smithers RCMP will continue to work toward our goal of "Safe
Homes, Safe Communities" by continuing to target the use and sale of
drugs within our community."

Safe Homes, Safe Communities is the theme of The RCMP Strategic
Framework, the intent of which is to prevent crime by addressing its
root causes.