DRUG ARRESTS A SURPRISE TO CLE

A sweep by tri-force drug unit officers that nabbed 50 people at the recent
CLE fair is a surprise to Marlene Busniuk. But the woman who heads the
organizing committee promises the drug issue will be addressed.

"I am very (surprised)," Busniuk said when informed yesterday of the
seizures and charges. "I never heard a thing about it.

"We know we had a few problems with kids gathering, and we handled that
quite nicely. But I never heard a thing about the (drug) charges," she said.

"It would be of great concern to me."

On Thursday, the tri-force drug unit announced that officers had attended
the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds during the annual summer fair Aug.
12-14. As a result, officers seized 95 grams of marijuana, a gram of hash
oil and Percocet pills as well as $510 in currency.

Of the 50 people they spoke to, 15 were charged. The most significant
charges are of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking, laid against three young males, and a charge of trafficking
laid against a 40-year-old man.

Eleven other people were charged with possession of a controlled substance.

All the others were young offenders ranging in age from 13 to 17. They were
dealt with according to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which includes
notifying their parents, Det. Staff Sgt. Brian Brattengeier said.

Four plainclothes officers were assigned to work the fair, the drug unit
commander said.

"This is by far the greatest number of seizures that have been made there
in the three years I've been here," Brattengeier said in an interview.

He said the drug unit makes it a part of their business to attend events
that attract large crowds.

"We go to a lot of events such as (the CLE fair), so that little kids don't
end up around people smoking dope," he explained.

The tri-force drug unit consists of officers with Thunder Bay Police, the
OPP and the RCMP.

The Kenora joint forces unit comprises the Kenora, Atikokan and Dryden
police services.

Busniuk said about 62,000 people took in the 4 1/2-day event.

Thunder Bay Police officers received about five dozen calls to the CLE area
during the fair.

The calls included 13 regarding assault or violence, 12 regarding illicit
drugs and six related to liquor.

Busniuk said the CLE committee hired a private company to provide security
during the fair.

"I know we had a lot more (security) this year than last year," she said,
noting the number of incidents they responded to were down from 2003.

As for the work by the drug unit, Busniuk said she would raise the matter
at a committee meeting Tuesday.

"Of course we'll do something about it," she said.