DRUG DEALERS FIGHTING FOR CUSTOMERS

A drug turf war has erupted in the Downtown Eastside as dealers fight over
shrinking demand for heroin, cocaine and crack.

This month alone, at least 10 assaults with weapons have occurred in the
Downtown Eastside, almost all involving drug dealers. The most recent
violent incident occurred Oct. 9 when a drug dealer was wounded in the
stomach by a shotgun near the corner of Carrall and Hastings, east of the
New Portland Hotel. The man was found shortly after by police and survived
the attack. Police did not disclose information about his attacker.

Insp. John McKay, commander of the City Wide Enforcement Team responsible
for policing the Downtown Eastside, believes the surge in violence among
dealers is due in part to a reduction in drug users frequenting the area.

"When you destabilize things, as we are trying to do, there is a reaction
that occurs and that's increased competition for territory," McKay said.
"These people are trying to reinvent the wheel and get control of a
diminishing area. That's what's going on. Destabilization causes
competition and how they compete is not with a better product or better
price or service. They compete with violence."

Earlier on Oct. 9, a dealer was sliced in the arm on East Cordova. He
refused to answer questions when police arrived at the scene.

On Sept. 25, a man involved in a drug deal was beaten outside the Carnegie
Centre. He died in hospital. On Sept. 29, a man was slashed in the face
with a razor blade in Oppenheimer Park when a deal went bad.

Also, in late August, a dealer was murdered in Andy Livingstone Park and
another man was found murdered in his room at the Columbia Hotel, 303
Columbia St.

Since the police enforcement team was created in April 2003, police have
reduced the number of drug users and dealers that frequent the area. The
number of drug users that come to Vancouver from other parts of the Lower
Mainland has particularly decreased.

According to police, residents of the suburbs commit a property crime in
their home municipality, travel by SkyTrain to sell the stolen goods at a
Downtown Eastside bar, and buy and use drugs in the neighbourhood until
their money runs out.

A recent report by Vancouver Police Department Const. Gerry Wickstead,
compiled with the aid of two Simon Fraser University students, found most
addicts in the Downtown Eastside spent at least $50 a day on their
addiction. With an estimated 3,000 addicts living in the troubled
community, that amounts to a minimum $150,000 a day or almost $55 million a
year spent on illegal drugs.

Dealers operating in the area tend to cluster in ethnic or immigrant
groups, with Hispanic dealers controlling Hastings Street around Abbott,
Carrall and Columbia, and Vietnamese dealers operating further east along
Hastings.