DRUG WAR WAGED IN GAS CITY

The Gas City war on drugs is a never-ending battle against a
continuous flow of narcotics.

The latest victory came on May 11 when police arrested three Calgary
men in possession of $21,000 worth of crack cocaine and $10,300 in
cash.

(names redacted), all from Calgary are facing charges of possession
for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and possession of proceeds of crime.

The three men made brief court appearances Tuesday in Medicine Hat
provincial court.

They were arrested in a vehicle parked at the 7-Eleven on Carry Drive
last Friday.

The investigation recovered eight-ounces of cocaine and the sum of
money.

(redacted) was remanded into custody until May 24 for a bail hearing.

The Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) have been busy over the past
few months making a number of drug busts. Some were significant and
others minor. Some were the result of attentive police work, and
others thanks to sting operations.

"As far as arrests and seizures, nothing is slowing down," said a MHPS
source. In 2006 local police doubled the amount of drugs they claimed
off Hat streets.

As of Oct. 11, 2006, police seized a total street value of $1.128
million in drugs. That's up from $627,413 from 2005.

"We're reaching out and touching people, but it's a low amount,"
explained the MHPS source.

One scary aspect of this year's busts is that they are larger, says
the police source.

On March 28, a traffic stop recovered $16,500 in cash believed to be
the proceeds of criminal activity. They also found 71 tablets of
ecstasy, a street value of $1,400, 5.65 grams of crystal meth, valued
at $550, and a small amount of marijuana.

Three suspects were charged with possession for the purpose of
trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime, and possession of a
controlled substance.

According to the MHPS source, last year they took a lot of ecstasy off
the streets. But this year the drug of choice for Hatters is crack
cocaine.

In one of the largest drug busts of recent years in the Gas City,
police seized 3.5 kilograms of cocaine on Sept. 14, 2006. Again,
police were not tipped off. The bust resulted from a routine traffic
stop and a total of about $280,000 worth of cocaine and cash were recovered.

These traffic stops are becoming less and less routine as officers --
trained to notice suspicious activity -- are turning the mundane into
triumphs against pushers.

On April 20, during a seemingly routine traffic stop MHPS members
seized an ounce of marijuana. The pot was seized and is valued at $240.

Two Calgary men were charged with possession of marijuana related to
the vehicle stop.

The police encourage people who notice illegal drug activity to call
their drug tip line.

The police say they get a large number of complaints and do their best
to investigate them in a timely matter. "But we're not available to
address everyone's needs immediately.

These tips, the police emphasize, do result in a number of arrests and
seizures.