TEAM TO TARGET METH LABS

Mounties are waging war on Alberta's methamphetamine problem by spending
nearly $3.5 million assigning five officers to hunt down clandestine labs
full time. The RCMP will target large-scale labs run by organized crime
groups drawn to the huge profits they can make from the highly addictive
drug. But the chairman of a Camrose-based task force tackling meth
addiction has warned that although he welcomes the move, police may be
fighting a losing battle unless federal chemical control laws are changed.

"Doing something is better than doing nothing, but we are quite a bit
behind on this issue in Canada," said Kerry Laberge, chairman of the
Camrose-based Drug Response Task Force. "The (busts) will probably be a
drop in the bucket."

The Sun revealed yesterday that Alberta Mounties busted nine labs in 2003,
but have not laid meth production or trafficking charges in connection with
any of them.

Part of the problem has been federal chemical control laws, which make it
difficult to lay charges when the finished product - methamphetamine - is
not found in labs.

But Sgt. Harold Trupish, who is heading up the new RCMP initiative, said
having five officers dedicated to fighting the meth problem - instead of
just him - will make a big difference.

"We will more specifically target clandestine labs," he said. "It gives us
a better ability to focus and co-ordinate."

Trupish said he's not permitted to comment on Canada's chemical control
laws, because it's a federal issue. But he said even when charges aren't
laid in connection with busts, the labs they find are still dismantled and
shut down for good.

"I still think the public's better off when we at least curtail some kind
of production," he said. "We are taking stuff away from people and
preventing others using it down the road."

The initiative, which will cost $3.46 million over five years, is expected
to be launched at the end of March when recruitment and training is complete.

B.C. has funding for a similar scheme and other provinces are expected to
follow suit. Trupish said although organized crime labs will be targeted
specifically, smaller labs will also be investigated.

"Methamphetamine is the major problem in Alberta when it comes to synthetic
drugs and they've certainly seen an increase in the use of methamphetamine
and some of the fallout," said Sgt. Doug Culver, national coordinator of
the RCMP's synthetic drug operations unit.

"It's becoming a big money-maker for organized crime in the U.S. and it is
here because it's all about money.

"It is very easy and cheap to make and the profit margin is higher than
most other drugs on the market."