TUESDAY
S I N C E
SEPTEMBER 9, 2014
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Vol. 119, Issue 140
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PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Drug trade in area has ties to organized crime and gangs BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The most prosperous gangs aren’t flashy or living an obvious high life. They’re smart and secretive, and most likely involved in the organized drug trade. And they could be your next door neighbour, but you’d never know it, says a Greater Trail Mountie. RCMP Cpl. Darryl Orr, commanding officer for the Trail and Castlegar Crime Reduction Units (CRU), has the opinion that gangs and organized crime have been in the area for quite some time though he doesn’t have recent hard evidence to prove it. Drug activity in the region has remained fairly constant in the last few years, Orr maintained, but acknowledged that there’s people in the Trail area with ties to the Hells Angels and other organized groups, so they can facilitate transactions to bring narcotics into the Kootenays. Crime groups, including gangs, distribute drugs for profit, he said, so they often are found in the bigger cities because bigger profits lie in a larger population. “Wherever there’s big fish there will be little fish who want a little piece of that,” continued Orr. “In Trail and Castlegar you’ll have offshoots of that activity, but
it’s just not to a scale big enough to be noticed by law enforcement.” He recalled the high level case from about nine years ago, when the Greater Trail police force busted a sophisticated marijuana grow op in city limits. “This particular group was very smart,” he said. “They didn’t talk to a lot of people and it took a lot of hard work to get into the search warrant situation.” He said the group used high end filtration to mask the odour of the marijuana and keep it from permeating outside the private residences, and they knew how to bypass hydropower so it wouldn’t look like they were consuming excess power. “They used a lot of anti-police methods,” Orr said. “All that stuff is controlled by supply and demand and we are certain anywhere you go there’ll be people with ties to organized crime. “I think the public would be surprised about the number of people who make money illegally.” Locally, the Kootenay Boundary Regional General Investigation Section (GIS) is a 10-person plainclothes unit that focuses on street crime and undercover operations. Five of those positions are full time See IT’S, Page 3
Read CFSEU gang report online BY TIMES STAFF There is no doubt that gang violence is a growing issue in every corner of British Columbia. The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) of B.C. has put together its annual Community Report, which is available for download on the Black Press website bc-anti-gang.com or at cfseu.bc.ca. The report studies the impact that gangs have on communities throughout the province and the ripple effect it has on youth, families and police resources. “We have a story on gang prevention research in youth,” explained Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, CFSEU media relations officer. “There will also be stories on prevention and public assistance.” The report contains a review of the enforcement and impact throughout B.C. coupled with statistics and highlights of gang-related crime in communities. Check the CFSEU website or Black Press’ site to download this report.
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Chazo, a four-year old German Shepherd is Greater Trail’s newest crime fighter. He and his handler Cpl. Sheldon Arychuk dropped into Sanctuary last week and after many oohs-and-ahs from the youngsters, Chazo was off to Castlegar on a drug sniffing mission on a suspected vehicle.
B.C. teachers vote Wednesday in a move to end strike Arbitration still on table for B.C. teachers BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
B.C.’s teachers are making a move on Wednesday that could bring an end to their bitter labour dispute with the Ministry of Education. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) will ask its 40,000 members to vote ‘Yes’
or ‘No’ to end the strike if the government agrees to a few very significant conditions. First, BCTF is asking the ministry to dismiss the legal clause (Article E80) that gives the province control over classroom size and classroom composition and send the matter back to the court room to be resolved. Second, all other points of contention must be settled by a third party and lead to legally binding decisions for both sides.
“Everything is shifting by the minute,” Andy Davidoff, president of KootenayColumbia Teachers’ Union told the Trail Times early Monday. “But the bottom line is I think we need to take the vote. This is a logical step to show the province that we want to be back in school, teaching our students.” This latest development comes on the heels of the government rejecting the BCTF’s proposal to enter binding arbitra-
tion, with Minister of Education Peter Fassbender, saying that gives parents and teachers false hope that there is a simple way to resolve the conflict. “This dispute needs to be settled at a bargaining table,” said Fassbender in a Saturday news release. “And I invite them again to lift their pickets while the parties work towards mediating an end to this dispute.” See DISPUTE, Page 3
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