Source: Vancouver Province (Canada) Copyright: The Province, Vancouver 1999 Website: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/ Contact: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 Author: Jason Proctor, Staff Reporter The Province BUST WITH A DIFFERENCE Drug busts usually follow certain lines -- a mound of powder, an ingenious plot and the arrest of small-time players in a big-time cartel. With the arrest of three kingpins in a trafficking organization attempting to control the price of heroin North America-wide, RCMP said yesterday they've made a different kind of bust -- one whose impact will be felt in the underworld for some time. "It's the other way around this time," RCMP spokesman Russ Grabb told a news conference. "You have the upper-echelon players in jail." Police were elated yesterday after a 13-month multi-departmental investigation that appears to have served up three prime players of an Asian heroin operation. Two men arrested in Canada -- Chi Hang Chan, 30, of Richmond and Kwok Yung Chan, 35, of Toronto -- are charged with conspiracy to traffic in heroin. Chi Hang Chan is also charged with possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. A third man and his wife were among several arrested in Hong Kong. Chi Hang Chan is a brother-in-law to the Toronto man and the Hong Kong man, who are brothers. Chi Hang Chan was living under an alias after an immigration court here ordered him deported. Canadian police seized 70 kilograms of 93-per-cent-pure heroin, a heroin press, $100,000 and a pair of brand-new Mercedes automobiles. The Hong Kong arm of the bust took in $380,000 Cdn and also stumbled on a bank account that has seen more than $22 million HK ($4.5 million Cdn). Police estimate that the heroin -- displayed yesterday in hard-packed, cellophane-wrapped bricks -- would be worth about $14 million on the street. RCMP refused yesterday to reveal many of the details of the trafficking organization. Staff-Sgt. Al Armstrong, team leader of the Greater Vancouver drug section, did say: "There's only a few people in Canada capable of controlling this amount of heroin at any given time." Police said the gang members felt they could control the street-level price of heroin by holding on to their supply or flooding the market. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck