POLICE SMOKE OUT DRUG DEALING OPERATIONS

Police charged 42 individuals, ranging in age from 15 to 74, with 140
drug-related offences Wednesday, following a six-month undercover narcotic
investigation.

The undercover operation, which was carried out by the Greater Sudbury
Police Services in conjunction with the Ontario Provincial Police Drug
Enforcement Section, the OPP Northeast Region Crime Unit and the RCMP,
resulted in the seizure of $40,000 worth of cocaine, hash oil, ecstasy and
marijuana. Police also confiscated weapons, an undisclosed amount of cash
and various other pharmaceutical drugs and drug paraphernalia.

According to detective inspector Frank Elbers of the OPP Drug Enforcement
Section, the joint venture began in September of 2001, with officers
conducting narcotics investigations in the City of Greater Sudbury, Warren,
Espanola, Noelville and Manitoulin Island.

"The criminal element does not adhere to municipal or provincial
boundaries," Elbers said. "Therefore the best method of investigation is a
collaborative effort of the three police services."

The 42 individuals caught in the sting operation were charged with
trafficking and possession of controlled substances for the purpose of
trafficking, following early morning search warrants and arrests conducted
in the Greater Sudbury area, Elbers said.

According to RCMP Staff Sgt. Claude Faucher, undercover officers from the
Tri Forces Drug Unit were able to infiltrate street and mid-level drug
traffickers, making numerous purchases of drugs and controlled substances.

In all, police confiscated 40 grams of cocaine, 600 grams of hash oil, 175
grams of ecstasy, 200 grams of marijuana and a combined total of 350 tablets
of oxycoden and diloud.

When asked the significance of such a relatively small drug bust to the
community, Greater Sudbury Police Services Chief Ian Davidson referred to
something called the "broken window theory," a theory he said was developed
by a university professor.

"If you allow degradation to occur," Davidson said, "and particularly in the
downtown core -- it starts with loitering, then broken windows, then
graffiti, then drug dealing -- pretty soon legitimate businesses start to
suffer -- they change locations, they move out -- and you have vacancies,
and you have boarded up windows, and the cycle perpetuates to the point
where it (becomes) a completely undesirable environment for people to be.
And there are huge economic spin-offs."

While Davidson isn't necessarily saying this is happening in Sudbury's
downtown core, drug dealing and usage could lead to more significant
criminal activity, such as violence.