Pubdate: Sat, 22 Feb 2014
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Katie Schneider

ALERT RIDING HIGH

Integrated Force Cheers $500m in Drug Seizures Since 2006

Law enforcement officials said Friday they have delivered a major 
blow to organized crime in Alberta, removing more than $500 million 
worth of drugs since 2006.

Since the provincially funded Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams 
(ALERT) were formed in 2006, more than $500 million worth of drugs 
have been seized, said its CEO Insp. Charmaine Bulger and Alberta 
Justice Minister Jonathan Denis.

"Drugs are the currency of organized crime and taking that out if 
their hands and out of their business helps us to dismantle some of 
the organized crime that goes on in the province here," said Bulger.

The $511,970,145 value of drugs seized between 2007 and the end of 
December - based on estimated potential street values - would reach 
from Lethbridge to Fort McMurray in $100 bills laid end-to-end, she said.

The most valuable drug seized in terms of total value has been 
marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.

Nearly 400 municipal police, RCMP and sheriffs work for ALERT and 
Bulger said joining forces has become a necessity.

"The value of integration allows for the knowledge and the experience 
of all the different agencies to share all the information they have 
in commonality," she said.

"As criminal activity becomes more complex over the years, the need 
to reach out to one another and share that intelligence and share our 
investigative abilities allows us to be more effective against the 
more organized criminals."

Denis called the milestone a significant success.

"Indeed the trade of drugs does not stop at the border of Calgary, 
Edmonton, or even Alberta," he said.

"If we want to put a dent in organized crime, in Alberta, including 
in Calgary, we need to put a dent in their pocketbook and that is 
exactly what ALERT is doing."

ALERT has identified several organized crime groups but Bulger 
couldn't reveal which ones.

And neither Denis nor Bulger could give a sense if the $500 million 
is a drop in the bucket.

"But at the same time when you are able to seize $500 million worth 
of illegal drugs that is a significant dent in their total operations 
that comes directly out of the pockets of organized crime and that's 
where we need to hit them," Denis said.

ALERT has also seized more than 400 firearms and arrested nearly 
7,000 offenders to date.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom