SURREY ON DRUG HIT LIST

Police have cast a huge net to catch more than 100 suspects in a
Vancouver-based global drug trafficking conspiracy and some Surrey
residents are on the menu.

British Columbia's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU),
assisted by police in other countries, has toppled a Vancouver-based
organized crime syndicate reaching into the United States, Australia,
Japan, New Zealand, China, India and Taiwan.

Project E-Paragon, as the investigation is called, involved hundreds
of police officers and is believed to be the biggest narcotics
crackdown in B.C.'s history.

Thirty-six people have already been charged, with more on the
way.

"There are a couple of Surrey people that will be indicted shortly,"
CFSEU Inspector Pat Fogarty told the Now.

Police have conducted searches in Surrey, but as of press time no
property has been seized here resulting from the investigation.

All told, more than 640 kilograms of cocaine, 111 kilograms of
methamphetamines, 83 kilograms of ecstasy, 26 units of heroin, 7,832
pounds of marijuana, and 1,200 kilograms of drug precursors including
ephedrine and MDP2P have been seized so far.

Police have also seized nine houses and condos in the Lower Mainland
worth more than $6 million, $300,000 in vehicles, $3 million cash and
17 handguns and prohibited weapons.

The sophisticated cartel, allegedly run by 40-year-old Vancouver
resident Yong Long Ye, saw cocaine transported from Los Angeles to be
sold in Toronto, with the proceeds sent to Vancouver.

From Vancouver, police say, methamphetamine was shipped in boxes and
suitcases equipped with hidden compartments to be sold in New Zealand
and Australia, with the proceeds of those transactions being funneled
to 38 bank accounts in China and then back to Vancouver, bypassing
money export restrictions.

Drugs allegedly trafficked through this scheme were worth $101 million
wholesale and $168 million on the street.