Pubdate: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 Source: Hamilton Mountain News (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Brabant Newspapers Contact: http://www.hamiltonmountainnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3415 Author: Richard Leitner, Mountain Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) CRACK CLAMPDOWN NETS 171 ARRESTS, $1-MILLION DRUG HAUL Chief Credits Project HALT For Big Drop In Robberies A police clampdown on crack addicts is being credited for the seizure of more than $1 million in illegal drugs and a big drop in robberies in the downtown area. Police Chief Brian Mullan said Project HALT successfully tested the theory that crack users are responsible for most street-level crime. The two-month initiative that ended Aug. 3 used "accumulated intelligence" to target people known to be involved in street-level trafficking and drug use, particularly in areas by crack houses, he said. The surveillance effort, which included 20 officers from three police stations as well as drug and break-and-enter squads, resulted 171 arrests and 363 charges. During that time, variety store and gas bar robberies dropped by 33 and 58 per cent, respectively, while those targeting other businesses also declined by 21 per cent, the chief said. Overall robberies are down four per cent so far this year, he said. "As we have always said, attack crack cocaine and it will drive down spinoff drug-related activity," Chief Mullan told members of the Hamilton Police Service Board. "This is bearing that hypothesis out." Despite the focus on crack, marijuana compromised the majority of the police haul, with 21 seizures accounting for $970,000 of the $1.124-million total. Police also seized nearly 1,000 grams of powder cocaine with a street value of $100,000 and 385 grams of crack cocaine worth $40,000, as well as 1,355 illegal pills and 9.7 grams of crystal methamphetamine. Seven illegal firearms were also confiscated, along with nearly $86,000 in "proceeds of crime." Chief Mullan acknowledged the clampdown didn't target the bigger players who supply illegal drugs. But he said police continue to cultivate informants and conduct background investigations in the hopes of snagging the bigger drug dealers. "They are, of course, the most difficult individuals to arrest. They're layered," Chief Mullan said in an interview. "This (clampdown) is mostly street-level traffickers and street-level users," he said. "When you take a million dollars worth of drugs off the street, it has to have a positive effect. When you take seven firearms off the street, you have to have a positive effect. "When you take repeat offenders off the street -- and those are the individuals that have been previously arrested and are now being held in custody without bail -- it has to have a positive effect in regards to crime on many levels." Police board chair Bernie Morelli said the clampdown is more evidence that crack continues to be a major problem in Hamilton despite the closure in March of the Sandbar Tavern, a downtown bar that had been a notorious crack house. While praising police efforts, he said he is concerned by the appearance of crystal methamphetamine in the street-drug mix. The highly addictive drug -- a clear crystal produced from pseudoephedrine, a decongestant in cold remedies like Sudafed and Triaminic -- has until now been most common in western, rural communities. It creates an immediate but short-lived high when smoked and can cause irreversible damage to brain cells and blood vessels. There had been only two previous crystal methamphetamine arrests in Hamilton. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom