A RECORD YEAR FOR DRUG BUSTS

Almost $4.1M worth seized by city police

Windsor police seized almost $4.1 million in illegal drugs in 2010,
more than double the previous year and among the largest annual hauls
in the force's history.

Officers say the large seizures are indicative of the success of the
Drugs, Intelligence, Guns and Surveillance unit, created in 2007 to
tackle the city's drug problem.

But the large haul also cements Windsor's dubious honour as the main
conduit for drugs and guns into Canada.

"We are the major connection between the United States and Canada in
all trade, whether it is legal or illegal," said Windsor police Insp.
Randy Gould, who runs the force's DIGS unit.

"Canadian weed is the best weed. And Mexican weed.

"So that goes into the United States and the United States trades
money and cocaine products up here."

According to Windsor police, though crime in general is dropping
across Canada, drugs -- in particular hard drugs -- are maintaining a
dangerous foothold in the community.

In 2008, Windsor police seized $2.3 million in illegal drugs. In 2009,
$1.8 million. In 2010, $4.1 million.

Gould said the value of seizures continues to rise every year --
perhaps through a combination of better policing and bigger drug deals
- -- as indicated by the largest seizure of cocaine in Windsor's
history. Police seized $500,000 of coke in June but readily admit they
only catch a fraction of the drugs coming through the city.

"Certainly drugs impact everything," said Supt. Vince Power, of the
investigative section.

"It touches policy across the board, just as it touches
society."

The most common illegal drug remains marijuana. The one most
associated with crime is cocaine or its freebased form, crack. The
fastest rising hard drug these days is oxycodone, an opioid best known
through its brand name OxyContin.

"Crack's a huge problem for us," said Staff Sgt. Jim Farrand, of the
DIGS unit. "It's very steady. We're seeing crack as much as we ever
have."

Hard drugs lead to a variety of social ills, Farrand said, including a
wide range of crime, such as break-and-enters, robberies and assaults.
Hence the need for the DIGS unit, which operates on a $5.3-million
annual budget with an undisclosed number of plain clothes officers.

"There's no question in my mind that through the efforts our
enforcement people do on a daily basis, there is less of a propensity
for violence in this city," Farrand said.