COURT HEARS COCAINE RAMPANT

Cocaine trafficking in Calgary is rampant, with the drug available on just
about every downtown street corner, an expert testified yesterday.

And Det. Pat Tetley told a hearing into the sentencing of a Hells Angels
dealer that the more the drug is sold, the greater the risk of violence.

"The drug trade involves large amounts of money, it's an investment and
people protect their investment with weapons," he told Crown prosecutor Eeva
White.

"Our undercover operatives know that they can be stabbed or shot," Tetley
said.

Jason Steistol, 31, pleaded guilty last fall to charges of trafficking in
cocaine and ecstasy.

Steistol, who was then a Hells Angels prospect, began selling cocaine and
pills to an undercover officer in May 2000 during a police sting.

MAN SOLD COCAINE

By the end of the summer Steistol was a full member of the club.

In all, Steistol sold five ounces of cocaine and 293 tablets of ecstasy to
police worth an estimated street value of $150,000.

Tetley said the amounts sold by Steistol would make him a major dealer of
cocaine, the primary drug of concern in Calgary.

"The cocaine trafficking in Calgary is at such an extent right now that on
most street corners ... somebody could eventually buy cocaine," he said.

Tetley said one day last summer he observed 56 transactions in 90 minutes
while sitting in a cafe in a downtown hotel.

Under cross-examination, the officer conceded it was possible, albeit
unlikely, Steistol may only have had access to the five ounces he sold to
the operatives, not the kilograms normally available to such dealers.

Sentencing arguments are scheduled for this morning.