POLICE SIGN INFORMS PUBLIC ABOUT DRUG INVESTIGATIONS

GUELPH -- City police are using an A-frame sign to send a message to
suspected criminals and the community.

On Tuesday, they placed a sign on the boulevard telling people that a drug
raid was in progress at a house on Victoria Road. The sign encourages
people to contact Crime Stoppers or the police if they see suspicious
behaviour in their neighbourhood.

It remained in place for over two hours while joint forces officers from
the Guelph Police Service drug unit and OPP searched the premises.

As a result of that search, an arrest was made.

Phat Tan Nguyen, 32, made a brief appearance in bail court Wednesday and
had his charge adjourned until today's bail court so that a Vietnamese
interpreter could be present.

"I saw all the action but didn't know what it was," said Rebecca Hodge, who
was visiting from Toronto with friends on Brant Avenue at the time of the raid.

"We walked by later and saw the sign. I've never seen anything like it in
Toronto. There are lots of drug busts but I've never seen a sign out front."

Const. Tom Gill of the city police said it was the first time the sign has
been used by the joint drug task force in a Guelph raid.

He sees it as a way to let people know what is happening at that house, and
give some publicity to the Crime Stoppers programme.

"It puts neighbours at ease. We're going to try to use it at more raids."

Both forces have a sign. The Wellington OPP have used theirs at previous
drug busts in the county.

Denise Becker, assistant co-ordinator with Wellington County Crime
Stoppers, welcomes the police support

"We're not getting as much response as we would like," she said. "Some days
we might get less than five calls."

According to court documents, Nguyen had been under investigation since
July 29, when police received information about suspicious activity
involving the resident of 343 Victoria Rd. N.

During the investigation Nguyen was observed a number of times meeting with
other individuals for short periods. In these meetings hand-to-hand
exchanges were observed by police.

Nguyen was arrested at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday after police saw him meet briefly
with an unknown man on Duke Street.

He was charged with possession of crack cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Immediately following the arrest, a search warrant was executed at Nguyen's
home.

Inside a barbecue in the carport, police say they found a cup containing 23
grams of crack cocaine, wrapped in 57 individual packages, with a total
street value of $2,850.