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Friday, November 21, 2008
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-2°C
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Feels like:
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-6°C
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83%
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CRACK DOWN |
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Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 |
Related Items
GARY GODWINPRINCE GEORGE RCMP
Mounties disclosed Tuesday that several months' worth of investigation had come to a head this week and dozens of arrests were made, most in the downtown core.
"We have had this investigation ongoing for three months at least," said RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin. "The operation is now finished. It is just a matter of getting the charges approved by Crown counsel. Because there is in excess of 40 CDSA (controlled drug and substances act) charges pending, that is going to take some time."
Godwin said there are about 40 individuals facing charges, so the actual number of CDSA and Criminal Code offences is not yet known. That will become clear once Crown delves into the large investigation package.
"We want the city's public to know we are very, very aware of the drug issues and the drug traffickers in Prince George," said Godwin, pointing out this particular investigation was going on long before the recent spate of downtown violence. "Unfortunately for the purposes of communications with the public, the nature of these investigations is covert. That is why we have a drug section and it bears repeating that we know who these 'bad guys' - for lack of a better term - are and in most cases even where they live. It is a matter of gathering the kind of evidence that the courts need to get a conviction. Our job is to shoulder the burden of proof for the courts. That is getting much more difficult these days, but we want to assure the public we are at work on this, and unfortunately it is a secretive and ongoing process."
Godwin said this operation was a direct blow to organized crime in Prince George even if nobody carrying a gang card is convicted. This constitutes a significant disruption to drug trafficking activities, he said.
"All of the drug trafficking in P.G. happens under the umbrella of the gangs," he said. "If you sell drugs on a freelance basis in P.G. you will lose a body part, that is a given in this climate now. Everyone who is selling drugs is operating under the auspices of one gang or another, and the majority of drugs are brought in by the gangs and distributed by the gangs in the first place."
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 October 2008 )
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