INFORMANTS A KEY ELEMENT IN GATHERING INFORMATION

Police use a number of methods in enforcing Canada's drug laws, from
putting undercover officers on the street to using helicopters to spot
illegal marijuana crops.

One of the more common techniques used by the Ontario Provincial
Police is called the street team initiative, says Det. Staff Sgt. Tim
Millar, of the OPP Northeast Region drug unit in North Bay.

These are usually done in conjunction with another police
service.

Currently, street team units are active in North Bay, New Liskeard,
Sudbury and Kirkland Lake.

Officers will work the streets gathering information and, in some
cases, make arrests right there on the street. In other case, they
will compile sufficient information for a search warrant.

The concept is the cheapest of all of techniques his squad uses, said
Millar. "We try to get as many drug dealers off the street as we can."

As the scope of a suspect's activities grows, so too will the
investigation, aimed at bringing the individual down.

When the police service has information that someone has an indoor
growing operation set up, a number of steps are taken. The initial
information can come from anywhere or anyone. To ensure it is
reasonably accurate, a secondary investigation is carried out which
includes a visual inspection of the site.

"Basically, we drive by and look at it. You can see by looking what is
going on there," said Millar.

An infrared device that can detect heat can also be used and there are
checks on the hydro consumption on the property.

"We do everything that we can possibly do without tipping off the
suspect," said Millar.

Another program to fight the drug trade employed by the OPP is simply
called Project Eradicate.

The project involves police service using a helicopter to spot outdoor
growing crops from the air.

Once spotted, ground teams simply go in and destroy the
crop.

This is generally done later in the growing season when the crop can
be identified from the air and when its colour distinguishes it from
surrounding plant growth.

Usually there is no way to connect the owner of the crop to the actual
plant. Most of the outdoor growing operations in this area are on
Crown land, said Millar. The owner of the crop will visit the area
from time to time to maintain the crop but beyond that, there is no
tangible connection, so the only thing to do is simply destroy the
crop.

Undercover officers and wiretaps are also used in the battle to fight
illegal drugs.

Police also have an extensive network that is regularly gathering
intelligence and information on drug use and distribution.

- -- Tomorrow: How our courts deal with drug charges