LATINOS FIGHT 'DRUG DEALER' LABEL

Though the Downtown Eastside's Latino population is small and
diverse, police say many of its members are active in the drug trade,
either as dealers or users. But Latino activists say the police are
not discriminating between the dealers and the rest of the community.
Omar Barahona, a 47-year-old social activist from El Salvador who is
based in the Downtown Eastside, says the police are harassing and
targeting all Latinos as drug dealers.

"A couple of months ago [the police] took me and a buddy of mine to
the alley, and almost strangled us because they allege we have [crack
cocaine hidden] in our mouths," says Barahona. "Then they beat us and
put us in the middle of nowhere in Burnaby. They took our shoes, took
our money and just left us there. That's a normal thing for them to do."

Barahona was recently arrested for drug trafficking and is now
awaiting his court date. He says the police didn't find any drugs on
him, but still charged him. While the police were driving him to
jail, Barahona says he told them he wanted to go home and they
responded by saying, "You're going home pretty soon. We're going to
deport you."

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) often works with Canadian
immigration officials to try and crack down on Latino drug dealers
who have been a constant source of frustration for the police.
According to a VPD report, Latin immigrants make up only 12 per cent
of the dealers in the neighbourhood, but have built up a
sophisticated network that brings young men from Central American
countries - mainly Honduras - as refugee claimants. They then sell
drugs on the streets for a few years before finally getting deported.

The dealers are often able to avoid capture from the police by using
"mules" to carry the drugs or by wrapping up crack cocaine rocks in
cellophane and holding it in their mouths. When police approach, they
swallow the drugs and either vomit or defecate them out later.

But members of the Latino community say because the police are having
a difficult time arresting the dealers, they're coming down harder on
the drug users.

"What [the police] are really doing is arresting people who are
addicted to drugs," says Jorge Campos, a 41-year-old crack cocaine
user from El Salvador who has lived in the Downtown Eastside for five years.

"The treatment of the police is very brutal. I've been arrested a
couple of times. They are very [intimidating]. They tear off your
clothes and beat you up just for being an addict."

The police deny they're targeting drug users or the general Latino
community. They admit to having a hard time arresting and deporting
the dealers, but blame a lack of resources.

The VPD has done sweeps on the dealers, arresting as many as a dozen
at a time, but they say the Latino network keeps replenishing itself.

"We prefer to go after the [dealers] that prey on people," says
Const. Matthew Black, who has been working the Downtown Eastside
streets for the past six years. "Going after someone that is just
shooting heroin, we have to deal with [them] because they are
breaking the law. But we'd much rather go after the predatory drug
dealers. Give us the resources and we will."

Black says Latino dealers are "an embarrassment" to the Latino
community, which he credits for trying to help stop the drug trade.

While members of the Downtown Eastside's Latino community acknowledge
things have improved with the police over the past year, they say
more still needs to be done. Antonio Hernandez, the editor of the new
Latino community newspaper La Vanguardia, says the police need more
cultural training.

Hernandez, who is from Guatemala, says he has been beaten by the
police on two occasions. Both times he showed the police his press
credentials, but he alleges they didn't believe him and accused him
of being a drug dealer.

Hernandez says the police need to understand that many Central
American immigrants came to Canada as refugees from war-torn
countries. But many have had a difficult time finding jobs in
Vancouver and fall into drugs and alcohol as a way to deal with their
post-traumatic stress.

There is only one Spanish-speaking drug and alcohol counsellor in
Vancouver and detox and treatment services do not offer any
information in Spanish.

Barahona is now considering leaving the Downtown Eastside because of
the constant threats. He says he came to Vancouver hoping to build a
better life for himself, but the police are only making a bad situation worse.

"I had no idea that things would be this bad [in Vancouver]," says
Barahona. "This is a real piece of hell in heaven."