DRUG RAID IN VALLEY NABS 16

Three Dozen Charges Laid, More Expected

WINDSOR - RCMP swooped down on Windsor-area homes Thursday morning,
breaking through doors, conducting searches and charging 16 people after a
long investigation.

Police laid three dozen charges after searches of about a half-dozen
properties in and around Windsor.

More charges and arrests are to come, Staff Sgt. Tom Grant said.

Officers raided the residences starting at about 9 a.m., seizing crack
cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana and hashish. Stolen property was also recovered
and a bootlegging operation shut down.

The operation involved officers from Windsor, New Minas, Bridgewater and
Halifax, as well as Annapolis Valley Traffic Services members and three
police dogs.

The 12 men and four women were picked up on separate warrants.

At one mobile home on Panuke Road, police cars filled the driveway as a
RCMP dog sniffed around the home and a large, unfinished barn behind it
that dwarfed the property.

Another team was searching a warehouse along the railway tracks in Falmouth.

Police were targeting street-level dealers and their local suppliers, Staff
Sgt. Grant said.

Those arrested ranged in age from their early 20s to 60. Some were to be
released, while others were being held pending court appearances. Their
names were not being released Thursday.

The drug problem in the area has been building for some time, although
crime statistics show the incidence is decreasing, Staff Sgt. Grant said.

Windsor and West Hants councils and local residents have been concerned
about the issue, he said.

"We knew we were reducing crime before this, and this will have an impact
on the drug and stolen property subculture - how devastating an impact,
time will tell," the officer said.

Windsor Mayor Anna Allen said she was thrilled when police called her to
say the raids had taken place.

"This had been a top priority for town council," she said. "As one member
of the RCMP told me, it's the root of all evil."

She said she hopes the raids "send a strong message that we won't tolerate
this in our community."

The mayor said she has seen people dealing drugs in plain view, and "it was
time we did something about it."

Staff Sgt. Grant said investigators expected to find stolen property during
the raids, because it's often traded for drugs.

"They are related crimes," he said.

Some of the stolen property seized included computer equipment, digital
cameras, cellphones and clothes.

Police also found benefit cheques, social insurance cards, wallets and
credit cards at one location, and the these items didn't belong to anyone
who lived there. British and Asian currency was also seized.

"We have a bunch of stolen property we were actually looking for (from
recent break-ins)," Staff Sgt. Grant said.

One of the men arrested called 911 to say there were people in his home he
wanted removed, but the operator soon found out it was police who had
entered the house.

Charges being laid include trafficking, possession for the purpose of
trafficking, possession of stolen property, possession of drugs,
bootlegging and breaches of probation and undertakings.

The investigation, known as Operation Hector, will continue and more
charges are possible, Staff Sgt. Grant said.