COPS PRAISE MOVES TO ELIMINATE DRUG FORTS

Edmonton cops who fought a tough battle against extreme security at city
drug dens are applauding a move by Manitoba's government to make fortified
houses illegal.

"It's very progressive by the province itself," said Const. Dean Boyer, who
has testified as an expert on fortified homes in provincial court and Court
of Queen's Bench.

"We'll be monitoring very closely to see how successful they are, and we'll
always have it in the back of our mind as a possible tool for the future."

Manitoba's Fortified Buildings Act passed third and final reading in
Manitoba's legislature Wednesday, and could receive royal assent next week.

The legislation is the first of its kind in Canada and allows fines of up
to $10,000, or three months in jail, for anyone who disobeys an order to
remove fortifications.

The most notorious fortified buildings in Edmonton were the so-called "Twin
Fortresses," homes that sat side by side on 103 Avenue, near 95 Street, in
the 1980s and early '90s.

"They were connected by an underground tunnel so they would slide the drugs
back and forth," said Boyer.

"If we did an entry on one house, they would slide the drugs on a string
through the tunnel from one house into the other house.

"By the time we got in the other house, they would destroy them."

The fortresses were protected by cement walls, thick metal doors and
bulletproof windows.

Dealers would pass drugs to buyers in locked-in lobby areas through a hole
in the wall or floor, Boyer said.

"There wasn't any actual person-to-person contact."

Cops fought back with high-tech equipment and seized fortifications like
steel doors to present as evidence in court.

"The tactical unit had borrowed from some industry a high-speed laser torch
that helped cut down some of the metal fortifications. They had a hinge
shotgun - a shotgun they could fire at door hinges that would blow the door
off," said Boyer.

With no anti-fortification legislation to help, cops created a specialized
team to fight between 10 and 15 fortified houses that did business in
Edmonton in 1993 and 1994, Boyer said.

Experts increased court conviction rates and eventually shut the homes
down, though fortified homes still pop up periodically, Boyer said.

Police encountered beefed-up security again last month at an alleged drug
house at 11617 101 St., when they seized drug paraphernalia, cocaine,
methamphetamines, marijuana, computer hard drives, counterfeit money, a
death certificate and Canadian and American passports.

"It took police some time to get in," said police spokesman Annette Bidniak.

"They eventually had to go in through a window."