SUBURBS TO INHERIT VAN DRUG PROBLEM

A police push on drug dealers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside may impact
the likes of Surrey, New Westminster and Burnaby as dealers look to the
suburbs to ply their illegal trade. But Richmond will likely avoid the problem.

So far so good, said Corp. S. Leitch, an RCMP officer with the city's drug
squad.

"There's been no increase in activity yet and I don't expect there to be."

The Vancouver police department began a three-month campaign to drive out
drug dealers in the East Hastings neighbourhood last Monday. By the end of
the week, police had reported 70 arrests, while other dealers and addicts
have simply left the area.

Just where they've gone, no one yet knows for certain. But police who
patrol crime-ridden suburban pockets, such Walley, as well as various stops
along the SkyTrain route where the street-drug client base is more readily
apparent, are bracing for a possible influx.

Leitch said Richmond will likely find itself exempt from the problem
because of its distance from the downtown core and the difficulty of
getting back and forth via public transportation.

As well, Richmond has no specific "skid-row" neighbourhood or park where
drug dealers or users tend to congregate.

That's not to say Richmond doesn't have a problem with drugs all its own,
Leitch said.

"We already have a very good supply (of street drugs) here in Richmond,"
she said. "Availability is not an issue."

Locally, deals are typically conducted over the phone and delivered
directly to homes or other specific locations by "mobile dealers."

According to Leitch, a phone call to the right person can put anyone in
touch with any drug you can name, 24 hours a day - from ecstasy and heroine
to the increasingly popular crack cocaine.

"We have no shortage of anything," she said.