DRUGS FROM BURMA TO VANCOUVER

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

World: Americas BBC 24TH JUNE 1999

             Vancouver drugs ring
             smashed 

             Most of the drugs were seized from a boat in Vancouver's port 

             Police have arrested 28 suspects and seized 54kg of
             heroin in a massive operation against a major
             international drugs ring operating out of the Canadian
             port of Vancouver. 

             The gang had been shipping heroin from southeast Asia
             to markets in Canada and the United States, in an
             operation so large that it could manipulate drug prices
             across North America at will. 

             "When you start dealing with heroin at the multikilogram
             level, you are dealing with the top echelon of heroin
             movement throughout the world," said Royal Canadian
             Mounted Police Sergeant Patrick Convey. 

             The gang also dealt in extortion and credit card fraud on
             a global scale. 

             From Burma to Vancouver 

             Most of the suspects are from the Vancouver area, but
             the FBI has also charged gang members from as far
             afield as New York, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico. 

             Vancouver police were tipped off that a suspected gang
             leader living in the city was to be kidnapped or have his
             house fire-bombed, and used the information to uncover
             a wider gang network in a three-year investigation. 

             The gang's operations stretched from Burma to
             Vancouver's East Side, which has a notorious heroin
             problem. 

             Police say heroin was sometimes stockpiled in Canada
             in an effort to limit North American supplies and drive up
             prices. 

             Harbour seizure 

             Most of the Vancouver heroin seizure came from a
             Chinese vessel entering the city's harbour. 

             A million containers pass through the port every year,
             but police and customs officials only manage to search
             3% of the vessels. 

             They have long complained that they are fighting a losing
             battle against the heroin trade. 

             According to the RCMP's Sergeant Convey, the
             suspects felt Vancouver was a safe place for business. 


             "I would have to say Vancouver is definitely one of the
             major areas for the distribution of heroin coming in from
             southeast Asia for the entire North American market," he
             said. 

             Canadian police said that smugglers liked to work from
             Canada because its drug laws carried lesser penalties
             than those in the United States.