When a known drug dealer took off after spotting police early last week, the officer decided not to jeopardize anyone’s safety by going after him in a busy parking lot.
Police, instead, decided to wait until they saw his vehicle again.
And they did, says Cpl. Luiz Sardhina.
Between 7 and 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 5, police arrested a man known to them for trafficking cocaine. Police report that they watched the man complete a drug deal outside his vehicle.
He was arrested and cocaine, cash and a cell phone were seized. Soon a text came in on the phone from a number police were familiar with. The man, who lives in the Shuswap, had come up from Surrey and had stopped at a local motel.
“He texted, we texted him back and said, ‘Yeah, we’ll meet you behind Tim Hortons,” said Sardhina.
They met him, where he didn’t get what he was looking for. Instead, he was arrested on outstanding domestic violence charges and his crack cocaine was seized.
“What we’re finding is dealers are carrying everything. A lot of crack cocaine, powder, meth and heroin,” Sardinha explains. “It’s a one-stop shop for most of these guys. It’s all dial-a-dope, no crack shacks.”
He said a lot of dealers will use two or three cell phones at a time. And a lot of the arrests police are making are out-of-towners.
Overall, the arrests seem to be taking their toll. Sardinha points out that one potential buyer was angry with police for cleaning up the streets.
