RAIDS TARGET DRUG DENS

Police Break Down Doors At Homes, One Business In Morning Strike

CITY police stormed several homes and at least one business early
yesterday morning in a synchronized strike against the gang-run drug
trade. Members of the organized crime and drug units used battering
rams and sledgehammers to break down the doors of homes in several
neighbourhoods, including the North End, East Kildonan, St. Boniface
and River Heights. Police spokesman Const. Bob Johnson said the search
warrants were executed as part of an ongoing six-month project aimed
at sniffing out drug dens in the city.

"Our goal is to do what is laid out in the warrant... to have an
effect on the transportation of drugs in our community," said Johnson.
"It's a very involved investigation. Certainly one lead often links to
another and they're overlapped. We're trying to get all the people
responsible."

Johnson wouldn't comment on the number of places targeted or the
number of arrests made yesterday.

"This may take a couple of weeks to conclude," he said. "We won't be
giving any preliminary results or an ongoing batting average. It's an
ongoing project.

"Hopefully, it leads toward a reduction in other crimes if the drug
trade is shut down."

Many of the raids occurred before sunrise. In East Kildonan, four
officers had to be decontaminated after they discovered a dangerous
drug lab in the kitchen of a home in the 400 block of Bowman Avenue
near Watt Street yesterday morning.

The clandestine lab contained reactive and highly flammable chemicals,
believed to be used to produce the drug methamphetamine, commonly
called meth or speed on the street.

Johnson said the officers were taken to hospital as a precaution, but
weren't injured.

Two men who are renting the small, white house were taken into
custody, neighbours said. The owner, who lives elsewhere, was badly
shaken as she stood just outside the yellow police tape encircling the
home and two others.

"The fact that they put my neighbours at risk totally infuriates me,"
Lori, who didn't want her last name used, said through tears. "My
property, if it's damaged, can be replaced. But putting my neighbours
at risk is unforgivable."

The fire department's hazardous materials unit and Health Canada
officials were called in to ensure the lab was safely removed.
Investigators searched the home wearing protective gear and masks to
ward off potentially poisonous gases. Once out, they entered a large,
yellow decontamination tent, passing through a water and bleach shower
to be cleaned.

Lori said she was in the home at the beginning of the month and stood
in the kitchen, adding there were no signs of the drug lab.

"I hope it's something new, because if it's not, Lord help me if they
have to tear it down or bulldoze it," she said. "This house is my
kids' college money."

The raids came just one day after Winnipeg police announced the drug
unit has seized over 21,000 marijuana plants this year with an
estimated street value of more than $23 million.

To date, police have shut down 87 grow operations in Winnipeg --
discovered in residential homes scattered throughout the city.

Sgt. Danny Smyth said the trend in the last year is that Asian-based
organized crime has the majority of marijuana operations in Winnipeg.

Police say many of their seizures are the result of tips from the
public.

On Academy Road, witnesses said police used sledgehammers to enter the
rear door of a hair salon, and could be seen with flashlights
searching the business and a garbage bin in the back.

Staff arrived to open the salon and found police still inside. Two
people working at the business yesterday afternoon refused comment.

Meanwhile, in the North End, police smashed in the front door of a
home on Cathedral Avenue.

Neighbours said one man was detained.

Police had to call in the city's animal control department after
discovering a pair of guard dogs in the home.

Art Scheller, who has lived on Cathedral for more than 50 years, said
he hopes the drug trade hasn't infiltrated his quiet, well-maintained
neighbourhood.

"It's been damned nice around here," he said. "I don't want it to
change. I don't like it that drugs might be coming in. That's trouble
for the kids around here. It'll run down the area."

In St. Boniface, a home on Vivian Avenue was also searched,

Several neighbours woke to the sound of a loud bang as police used a
battering ram to break down the door.