DRUG ACTIVITY REMAINS RAMPANT DESPITE DECLINING BUSTS

While October was an abnormally slow month in terms of drug busts for
the local RCMP, drug activity is still alive and well in Lloydminster.

As the Border City continues to grow so too does its ongoing battle
with drugs and this year started off on a record pace with 112
reported drug offences through the first four months -- averaging
almost one per day -- doubling last year's total of 56 in the same
timeframe. April proved to be the busiest month to date with a total
of 36 reported drug offences, but that number has steadily declined
through the summer and fall months, capped by a mere five
drug-related investigations in October, two of which resulted in
individuals being charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking.

There were 29 reported drug offences in October 2004, bringing the
annual total to 242, slightly higher than this year's total of 205
through the end of October.

"I don't know if the drug activity is declining or not, but due to
the number of busts we had earlier in the year, it seems we've taken
a number of the lower-level dealers out of action," said Cpl. Larry
Brost of the Lloydminster RCMP. "I'm thinking the main reason the
amount and frequency of busts has slowed down is a number of the key
players in the city are presently in custody.

"I think the blitz we had going prior to and during the summer had an
impact at the street level and certainly I'm not naive to thinking
the drugs are gone, they're not, but from our end it appears the
players of the day are in jail."

Even with a majority of the city's notorious dealers behind bars,
drug trade is believed to be a daily occurrence in Lloydminster with
annual sales totaling multi-millions of dollars. Crack cocaine is
still the drug of choice in the Border City, but it is unknown as to
how many of the roughly 23,000 Lloydminster residents actively buy
and sell drugs on a regular basis.

"There's really no way to have any idea how many actual dealers or
suppliers there are out there," said Staff Sgt. Mike Yanota, adding a
lot of the drugs present in Lloydminster have ties to organized crime
in Edmonton. "Our information suggests those groups (such as the
Hell's Angels motorcycle gang) are involved at a distance because
their product is getting into our city and our intelligence tells us
that if people are looking for cocaine or marijuana it is readily
available in Lloydminster, so there has to be quite a number of suppliers.

"With the drug culture out there, as long as there are users there
will be sellers and as long as there is a demand for drugs you will
have traffickers."

Yanota said patrolling members routinely encounter people under the
influence of drugs and that there is a real cross-section of users
and addicts in the city.

"It is not limited to any particular age group or income range," he
said. "We're a very affluent community, we have a high employment
rate with some well-paying jobs and there's no doubt that has some
influence on the amount of drug activity, because with the price of
cocaine obviously it takes money to fund that addiction."