Pubdate: Mon, 04 May 2009 Source: Northern Pen (CN NF) Copyright: 2009 Northern Pen Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5016 Website: http://www.northernpen.ca/ Author: Nova Hoddinott 'OUR TOWN HAS BEEN INVADED BY ORGANIZED CRIME' Dear Editor: The Town of Hawkes Bay has finally made its place in the annals of Newfoundland and Labrador history. Our town is now known as having the largest bust of ecstasy in Newfoundland and Labrador. Fifteen thousand ecstasy pills, along with cocaine and marijuana, were confiscated in this area. The scary thought is that ecstasy is a teenager's drug of choice and it's our teenagers who those pills were going to be marketed to. Considering the quantity confiscated, if these pills had reached their target, our teenagers would have resembled walking zombies from the warp zone. That thought is scary enough, but the cocaine is even more horrifying. This is an extremely addictive drug. In the hands of our young adults and teenagers, it would have put our town in an extremely precarious situation. It doesn't take a very vivid imagination to see that we could have had armed robberies, home invasions, murders and even the death of some of our young people. Our town has been invaded by organized crime at it's worse. Why Hawkes Bay? Well, why not? The people of this town had the opportunity five years ago to stand up and say 'no way' to the drug dealers, but their message was loud and clear by their inaction and failure to support those who wanted to make our town a safe place to live in. Our own mayor and councillors showed how out of touch with reality they really are when, on Jan. 8, 2009, they wrote the following in a letter: "Mrs. Hoddinott's attempt to take a stand on local teen drug and alcohol abuse was less a stand against anything other than try to institute vigilante justice and public parental censure and ridicule." I wish to God someone had stood with me and instituted vigilante justice. If they had, we might not have been sitting on a powder keg this past week. I want to express my thanks to the police and the drug squad for intercepting this shipment and keeping it out of the hands of our most precious gifts that God has blessed us with - our young people. May we all do our part to see that this never happens in our town again and also do our part to weed out the other dealers in our town that didn't get caught in this bust. Nova Hoddinott Hawkes Bay - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D