COCAINE MATH PROBLEM TAKEN TO CLASS, TRIAL TOLD

Confused about how to divide "kilos" of cocaine into ounces for sale,
two teens from a Saanich private school turned to their math teacher
for help, provincial court heard Monday.

An 18-year-old woman testified that a classmate -- when they were both
Grade 11 students at St. Margaret's School for girls -- returned from
the Thanksgiving holiday with a large quantity of cocaine which she
intended to sell.

But the two girls, who cannot be named because they were under age 18
at the time of the alleged incident, were unsure of its value since
neither knew how many ounces there are in a kilogram.

"She asked me and I didn't know. We were in math class so the teacher
would know. So I asked," said the testifying student.

The other student, now 18, is on trial in B.C. provincial court for
possession of a narcotic for the purpose of trafficking.

Saanich police arrested the girl when she was 17 on Oct. 14, 2003.
Police seized the cocaine from a locker at the school.

Police testimony Monday revealed the cocaine was in two "bricks"
weighing 0.468 and 0.506 kilograms. They were found inside a backpack
along with a note and school textbook.

St. Margaret's is one of region's more exclusive private schools, with
annual fees reaching about $35,000 for boarding students.

The 18-year-old student who testified Monday said her friend had told
her that her dad was a cocaine dealer. The friend had said she had
found the cocaine hidden under her own bed at the family home in the
B.C. Interior.

The student testified her friend borrowed her backpack earlier in the
year and when she returned from the Thanksgiving vacation she was
using it to carry the cocaine.

At the school, the friend used a locker the two shared to store the
backpack with the cocaine, the student said.

Students at St. Margaret's receive assigned lockers and the friend had
forgotten her combination so the two shared.

After considering what it meant to get so closely connected to a large
quantity of cocaine, the student testified she decided to speak to the
school principal.

"It was in my backpack, in my locker and if anybody had seen it, I
would have got in a lot of trouble," the student said.

She testified her friend talked of sharing some of the cocaine with
her friends, using some of it herself and selling most of it.

The testifying teen said her friend figured she could get $40,000 for
it and wanted to buy a car.

"She was going to buy a car and just go shopping and stuff like that,"
the student testified.

Crown prosecutor Michael Mark said the Crown's case concluded with
Monday's testimony. The trial was adjourned until September when the
defence will have a chance to call witnesses of its own.