BUSTED ONE DAY, BACK IN BUSINESS THE NEXT

A day after police shut down a downtown crack shack for the second
time, the drug operation was back in business.

A young, drug-addled woman swung her arm as she walked along Lawson
Avenue, motioning other drug users to go around to the back of the
dingy house. Minutes later, a shirtless man believed to be the main
tenant left the home on roller blades carrying a large backpack.

He was heading west toward downtown, apparently to fill his latest
order of crack cocaine.

"We're worried they're still in business," said a woman living nearby.
"I see the same key people going in and out today, looking really
suspicious."

The tenant and three others were arrested Saturday afternoon when RCMP
swooped down on the tiny house in the 700 block of Lawson. Three of
them, including the tenant, were later released.

The house was dark Saturday night. On Sunday, a handwritten sign was
strung across the sidewalk leading to the front door. It read: "Lawson
house closed; F-off; Get a life."

When police raided the house a month ago, seven people were arrested.
Neighbours say there was no activity there for two weeks, but it
gradually picked up again.

"A cab will drop somebody off. He'll go around the block and pick up
the same person a few minutes later. We see that five to 10 times a
day," said the woman.

Fist fights break out on the sidewalk. Crackheads steal flowers from
the garden next door and throw bottles.

Once a week, a car arrives at the house with two tattooed "thugs"
wearing sunglasses at night. They appear better dressed than the drug
users, said a second neighbour. "They go in there, and 20 people come
out of the alleyways and bushes and go in the house," he said.

RCMP arrived in about five cars Saturday. Officers yelled, "Hey,
search warrant!" before bashing in the front door with a battering
ram.

They were still holding a 17-year-old girl wanted on an outstanding
warrant Sunday. She was carrying crystal meth. Police also found crack
cocaine, stolen goods and drug paraphernalia in the house.

It's believed most of the seven arrested in June were not in the home
during the second raid.

"Most likely, the same ones are bringing drugs to sell, but the faces
change as more people get put in jail," an officer said Sunday.

Convincing the court to issue police a search warrant is easier when
they target a grow-op because officers can smell the marijuana and
collect information on power consumption, he said. Not so with crack
houses.

"It's not the easiest thing to get (search) warrants on It (a
crack house) takes more time to do other investigative steps to get a
warrant."

Neighbours on Lawson want Kelowna city council to legislate a bylaw
similar to Vernon's, which allows authorities to shut down drug houses
until the landlords clean them up and replace the tenants.

"We want them to do the same as in Vernon," said the first neighbour.
"Unless we see boards on the windows, we won't think it's gone for
good."