Pubdate: Wed, 04 Sep 2002
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2002 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Sidhartha Banerjee
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)

CLUB DRUGS 'FLOURISHING': COPS

Police Alert Youngsters To Potential Security Risks At After-Hours Clubs In 
Wake Of Shootout At Red Lite Club, Where Large Volumes Of Illegal 
Substances Were Exposed.

Laval police say a drug market is thriving inside the Red Lite after-hours 
club, and they are trying to control the problem.

Police found hundreds of tiny bags and thousands of pills littering the 
floor inside the building as they continued to search the club and its 
parking lot yesterday after a Monday morning shootout left seven people in 
hospitals with gunshot wounds.

"Our undercover agents have been keeping an eye on the club for a while," 
said Chief Inspector Pierre Brien. "We know there is a flourishing drug 
market inside: ecstasy, coke, PCP, LSD, speed and GHB, commonly known as 
the date-rape drug."

Police interrogated and released four suspects linked to the Bo-Gars street 
gang and found a gun late in the day believed to have been used in the 
shootings, said spokesman Sgt. Andre St. Jacques.

No arrests were made yesterday, but police are monitoring the rise in 
street-gang related activity, Brien said.

Laval's city council adopted a bylaw last December prohibiting the 
operation of dance clubs between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m.

The owners of Red Lite have been fined three times for contravening the 
bylaw. The club owners are contesting, and the matter is in municipal court.

The bylaw is relatively new and unique to Quebec municipalities, Brien 
said. Laval has two known after-hour clubs, and there is no plan to fine 
them each time they open, he said.

"Essentially, Laval police is testing new grounds with this bylaw."

Laval police also plan to begin information campaigns in area high schools 
and CEGEPs to warn of the potential risks.

"Youngsters need to know what they are getting into, there is a sense that 
because there is no alcohol that parents and kids feel there isn't a high 
risk," said Brien. "I think yesterday's incidents prove these places 
constitute a security risk and they are a good turf for gang activity."

The Red Lite club, which is located in an industrial sector in Laval's 
Vimont district, is usually open Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 2 a.m. 
and 11 a.m., but shuts by 9 a.m. on Monday.

The club is housed in a 20,000-square-foot warehouse, which is divided into 
three separate rooms plus the entrance area where Monday's shootings took 
place.

The club's owner declined requests to be interviewed, but the club's lawyer 
and spokesman Michel Savonitto said the club is safe and should be open 
again this weekend.

"I think Red Lite's clientele are safe and the proof of that is how things 
went last night," Savonitto said. "The seven people that were hurt were the 
two assailants and five of our security, the customers were never in danger."

Savonitto said it wasn't only luck that none of the 3,000 customers were 
injured in the melee. In a media release, the clubs owners thanked the 20 
security guards for their courage.

Meanwhile, Laval police don't plan to take any special measures, but will 
continue to monitor the club, Brien said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth