U.S. GUNRUNNERS BRING FIREPOWER TO WINDSOR DRUG TRADE

WINDSOR, Ont. -- He never figured selling death in Canada would be so simple.

"It all started with one question," said the friendly Detroiter with
the touch of bling on his fingers and "Hustler" on his oversized
T-shirt. "A guy asked me, 'How much would you charge me for a 9-millimetre?'

"Before that I was selling dope, right?"

Just like that. Easy as pulling a trigger.

The opportune question would give "Hustler" his big break in the
dangerous but profitable world of gun-running across the
Windsor-Detroit border.

Police say Windsor is the premier conduit for drugs and guns into
Canada, many heading to gangs in Toronto.

Why so much firepower? When it comes to the business of drugs, guns
often lurk nearby.

"There is a direct correlation between guns and drugs," said Windsor
police Supt. Vince Power, in charge of investigations. "That's safe to say."

The Drugs, Guns, Intelligence and Surveillance unit, formed in 2007
and operating on a $5.3-million annual budget with an undisclosed
number of plainclothes officers, concentrates on guns and drugs
because they represent such a serious threat to the community.

"It has been building over the years, with the prevalence of crack
and guns," Power said. "We're finding more of the drugs on the street
and with that, there's a correlation with guns."

Power said guns surface in most major drug transactions. When
officers conduct drug searches, they often end up finding firearms.

. Drugs and guns factored in the May 5, 2006, killing of Const. John
Atkinson -the only Windsor police officer killed on duty -who was
shot from point-blank range while questioning two drug dealers on the street.

. Four Windsorites were arrested in March 2010 following a provincial
guns and gangs crackdown, including one believed to be the main
player in an organized criminal operation that smuggled illegal
firearms from Kentucky through Windsor.

. In June 2010, a months-long investigation led to the arrest of five
people on 57 criminal charges and the seizure of marijuana, percocet,
four high-powered "crime guns" and $500,000 in pure uncut cocaine.

. In June 2008, an eight-month undercover operation resulted in the
arrest of five people in Detroit and a brother, 18, and sister, 21,
in South Windsor.

The investigation centred on an international criminal organization
that smuggling high-powered, illegal firearms into Windsor to trade
them to Toronto gangs for ecstasy.

Power said many guns come through the Detroit-Windsor corridor en
route to Toronto, where gang violence has erupted in the last few years.

"We know that all kinds of guns and drugs are going back and forth,"
Insp. Randy Gould, who runs the force's DIGS unit, said of the deadly
WindsorDetroit pipeline. "People who are trafficking in drugs seem to
use weapons more and more to protect their turf."

Prof. Eric Lambert, chairman of the criminal justice department at
Wayne State University, says large-scale drug dealers use guns as
their justice system.

"If we have a problem with business and somebody takes something from
us, we call the police," Lambert said Friday. "When you have illegal
drug trafficking, guns help dealers protect themselves because
they're outside the boundaries of legal society. It's not like they
can sue each other for infringement.

"So they seem to feel the best course of action is violence. And,
unfortunately, there's some indication that, at some levels, it does work."

Lambert notes that while crime rates are dropping across North
America, Detroit still sees more than 300 murders a year and
consistently ranks in the Top 5 or so most dangerous cities in the U.S.

He says that according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, an
estimated 200-millionplus guns exist in the United States, which sees
more than 17,000 murder/manslaughters a year. Such violence
undoubtedly spills over into Canada, he said.

The criminology professor isn't sure gun control will work in the
U.S., since it would be like "trying to put the genie back in the bottle."

But Lambert supports better registration and tracking systems
- -perhaps using firearm micro-stamping to help identify bullets from
all guns sold, and yanking licences from rogue gun shops.

He also advocates increased police crackdowns and the creation of
special gun task forces, similar to what Windsor police have done
with its DIGS unit.

According to Statistics Canada, the 1,716 gun crimes in Canada in
2009 were the most since 2005, which reported 1,990. In Ontario, the
543 reported gun crimes were also the most in the same period.

The largest chunk of gun crime occurred in Toronto, which endured 30
gun deaths in 2010, compared to 32 last year. Windsor, meanwhile,
managed a murder-free year, the first time since 1963.

Hustler, who would give his story but not his name, and would only
peg his age at between 25 and 30, said he bought guns in Detroit,
"off the street," and sold them in Windsor. "Easy. I actually just
stuck it in my waistband and took it across the border.

"I made $700 in an hour." He would go on to make much more. The most
expensive guns he sold were .50-calibre Desert Eagles for at least
$3,000 (bought in a store for $1,500).

All thanks, he says, to an insatiable appetite among Canadians, his
only customers, willing to pay at least twice the price Americans do
for the same weapons.

So Hustler reinvested. Bought more "burners," as he calls guns, and
sold more, too, mostly to gang members.

"We never could satisfy they hunger for the guns," Hustler said,
chatting with a reporter in a Detroit-area chain eatery. "Seriously,
it was non-stop.

"They'd place an order: 'We need five tech-9s by Friday. We need
A-Ks, we need AR-15s, we need three 9s, we need four 5s, we need
Glocks, whatever.'"

Naturally, custom orders brought custom prices. And more profit.

Soon Hustler's connections grew with Canada's thirst for illegal
firepower, especially in the Toronto area.

"There's more gangs," Hustler explained of his increased business.
"It ain't the average Canadian. It's the gangs."

Hustler says he sold to four Canadian gangs and at one point was
hawking an average of two guns a day.

"We would feed the one gang until they money ran dry," said Hustler.
"Then we would go to the next gang. We always had them on speed dial.

"So if you ain't buying today, we call your competitors. I don't care
who buys."

Hustler claims other than one time, he has never been ripped off.

He said he takes precautions, though, and never sells a loaded gun,
never goes alone to a sale and usually makes the transaction in a
public place, such as a mall or fast-food restaurant.

"We always drill the numbers, whether it comes from the street or
not," Hustler said. "We take a drill and take the serial numbers off."

Hustler offered a few techniques to fool border authorities: use
Vaseline, baby powder and vacuum sealing on guns to eliminate odour
from sniffing dogs; temporarily remove radios in order to hide guns
behind dashboards; and use clean-cut accomplices to ferry guns across.

Hustler said he had "a lot of good times selling guns. That was
probably the most funnest part of my life.

"Just the adrenalin and counting the money at the end of the night."

Despite the high times, Hustler's lifestyle had drawbacks: always
looking over his shoulder, lying to people about what he does for a
living, running into the occasional rough cop and dealing with nerves.

"When you get to the border and you're three cars back, you're fine,"
Hustler said. "When you're the second car back, you get a little sweaty.

"When you're right at the window, you're fine. You can't be nervous.
You can't be scared.

"And you've got to have a good story."

His hardened attitude perhaps reflects a hard life. He saw a friend
shot dead walking home from a party when he was 16, and claims his
leg was grazed by a bullet over "girl problems" in his early 20s.

Hustler said the stress of the business convinced him to abandon the
world of gun-running, to go out with a whimper, not a bang.

"The money I was making I called guilt money," said Hustler, his
smile subsiding. "So I would spend it as quick as I made it, because
I felt guilty.

"Because I know the money I was making meant someone was gonna die."