Pubdate: Tue, 14 Jun 2005
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
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Copyright: 2005 The StarPhoenix
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Janet French

CRYSTAL METH ARRIVES IN CITY FROM ALTA

It came from the west and touched down first in Lloydminster.

About four years ago, police saw crystal meth creep into Saskatoon and
spread to Prince Albert and Melfort. Only within the last two years have
Regina police seen the highly addictive, hallucinogenic drug appear in the
city.

Police say crystal meth isn't the biggest problem they're battling in the
province. But addicts who become slaves to the 12-hour euphoric effect it
brings become paranoid, aggressive and tolerant of pain, which is
threatening to front-line emergency workers.

Although police statistics show meth use is growing in the province, the
RCMP say the intelligence they have indicates most of the crystal meth used
in Saskatchewan is made in clandestine labs outside the province.

"In many indications, it's coming from Alberta, primarily the urban centres
in Alberta, Calgary and Edmonton, and travelling into Saskatchewan," RCMP
spokesperson Cpl. Brian Jones said. "(But) we have not made significant
seizures on the highways that we have with marijuana."

Since it has arrived, the distribution of meth users across the province has
been uneven.

"There is not a blanket of meth across the province," Jones said. "There are
hot spots where it is used more than others."

Saskatoon has become the crystal meth hub in the province, largely thanks to
its proximity to Edmonton, said Sgt. Jerome Engele of the Saskatoon
Integrated Drug Unit.

"Our meth comes from Methmonton, as it's known," Engele said. "They're our
supplier. That's the route, ours is coming in through Lloydminster to
Saskatoon. We move it out from here to our surrounding areas."

Meth moved into Edmonton from B.C. about four years ago, said Edmonton
Police Service acting Staff Sgt. Darcy Strang, the officer in charge of the
city's Meth Project Team.

Between March 2004 and March 2005, Edmonton police had 297 files in which
meth was involved. They also collect about 900 crystal meth exhibits per
year, he said.

Three superlabs police found in and around the city over the last three
years served as smoke signals that warned meth was planting roots in
Edmonton. A superlab is a clandestine operation that makes 10 pounds of meth
or more in a 24-hour period.

"That's a lot of meth. You don't get superlabs in areas unless you have a
large need for it from the populace," Strang said. "If Ford came here and
built a huge plant, you wouldn't find nobody driving Fords."

The price of meth has also dropped to $50 a gram from $300 a gram in the
Alberta capital. Meth is sold in units called "points," and each point is
0.1 grams.

The price of meth in Saskatoon has halved since it first appeared, Engele
said, dropping to $10 from $20.

Although the plunging price is one sign of growing meth use in the city, the
drug unit's statistics also show an exponential increase. In 2000, meth
wasn't on Saskatoon's radar screen. By 2002, police documented 13
"occurrences" of the drug, or incidents where they found it in someone's
possession or a person turned it over to police. In 2004, police found meth
229 times and laid 167 charges related to the drug. Between Jan. 1 and April
30 of this year, police have recorded 151 occurrences of meth and laid 58
charges.

Police have uncovered only one confirmed crystal meth lab in Saskatoon.

Engele said sources in the drug trade tell him the meth trail radiates
outwards from Saskatoon to Prince Albert, Tisdale, Humboldt, Nipawin and
Hudson Bay.

According to the RCMP, the Melfort-Naicam-Spalding area is also a meth hot
spot.

In January, a raid following an 18-month investigation culminated in the
arrest of 44-year-old Robert Okell of Naicam and 46-year-old Earl Yeo of
Spalding. Okell faces 14 charges of trafficking methamphetamine and one
charge of trafficking marijuana. Yeo is charged with three counts of
trafficking crystal meth and cannabis marijuana.

As a result of the investigation, police have also charged 30-year-old
Stephen Karaim of Westbank, B.C., with trafficking methamphetamine. Robert
Mears, 42, also faces 19 drug-related charges, including conspiracy to
traffic drugs and trafficking.

The arrests are a success story that shows how tips from the public can help
lead police to dealers who are pushing the devastating drug, Jones said.

Prince Albert first saw crystal meth appear in the city in mid-January of
1999, said RCMP Sgt. Al Hofland with the Prince Albert Joint Forces Unit.

"I think it's fair to say we're seeing more of it, just based on what we see
coming through the door here," Hofland said. "Is it completely out of
control? I would suggest that it's not, as far as from a policing
perspective at this time."

In the northern community of La Ronge, meth only appeared last November,
said Wayne Kuffner, clinical supervisor for addictions in the Mamawetan
Churchill River Health Region.

"We haven't see to much of it," he said. "Most of the ones that we've worked
with have actually came back to the communities and they've (tried it) in
P.A. . . . They got into it down there and returned to the community."

Alcohol, marijuana and intravenous drug use are the most problematic
addictions in the La Ronge area, Kuffner said.

Although meth is being sold and used in La Ronge, Kuffner said only six
patients have admitted to using it in the last three months.

Prince Albert isn't the only gateway for northern residents to access meth,
Hofland said.

"The main highway is one means," he said. "Air travel is another. People can
get it to the communities to meet the demand, is how it's going to happen."

According to an undercover police officer with the Regina Integrated Drug
Unit, methamphetamine hasn't taken a hold on the city the way it has in
Saskatoon.

"In 2003, that's when our unit started to see meth, started to hear about
meth," said the officer, who can't be identified.

In 2002, the drug unit conducted only two investigations into trafficking or
possession for the purpose of trafficking meth and laid three charges. By
2004, the unit had eight investigations on the go and laid 11 charges. They
haven't started keeping tabs on the occurrence and possession of crystal
meth specifically, he said.

Regina is more of a crack cocaine town, the officer said -- a drug Saskatoon
police say they don't often see. The difference could just be a matter of
taste, the Regina officer said.

Engele said he expects Saskatoon dealers with connections in Regina are also
introducing the drug to the Queen City.

Some Saskatchewan towns remain untouched by meth. A recent strategic plan
for tackling meth use issued by Saskatchewan Health said crystal meth use in
Swift Current is low because youth there view it as a "dirty drug" and users
are "looked down on." 
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