ages WEDNESDAY February 21, 1996 CIT ROR TOT = heroin suspect THE LONG arm of Canadian law has reached over to Europe and nabbed an accused heroin trafficker who fled the country three years ago. By Anna Marie D'Angelo News Reporter Ivan Pelegrin, 39, of Croatia, has been charged with possessing $3.5 raillion in heroin for the purpose of trafficking in connection with an Aug. 8, 1992, drug raid in Vancouver. Pelegrin, released from jail on $160,000 bail, fled the counuy before his preliminary hearing in North Vancouver provincial court. North Vancouver RCMP drug sec- tion Cpi. Mike Littlejohn said Pelegrin is currently in a German jail. He was arrested near the Swiss- German border around Nov. 10. Canadian authorities were notified based on an Interpol warrant and the extradition process was started in Canada the same month. Littlejohn and another Noerth Vancouver RCMP officer will be picking up Pelegrin on an extradition warrant near Munich on Sunday. North Vancouver police were aware of Pelegrin’s whereabouts shortly after he skipped the country. A North Vancouver RCMP drug squad member on a United Nations peacekeeping stint in the former Yugoslavia did some moonlighting and was able to trace Pelegrin to his home in Croatia. North Vancouver RCMP and West Vancouver Police drug squad mem- bers arrested Pelegrin after seizing three pounds (1.3 kg) of pure China White heroin from an apartment in the 1000-block of Barclay Street in Vancouver. About a month before, North Vancouver RCMP drug section mem- bers had been tipped off that Pelegrin had arrived in Vancouver allegedly with three pounds (1.3 kg) of heroin for sale. Near the time of Pelegrin’s arrest. high-grade China White heroin was responsible for a number of deaths in the Vancouver area. B [ Weather Thursday: Cloudy with showers High 8°C, low 2°C. NEWS photo Paul McGrath GAMES PEOPLE: (front row, left to right): Bill Rodgers, Matieen Morris, Lisa Chu, Ella Parkinson and Tim Jones; (back row, left to right} Christine Gooch, Paul McKnight, Carl Paddock, Laura Campbell, Wendy McManus and Games president Gerry Brewer. NV set to host historic sporting event HISTORY IN the making is mere hours away as the 18th-annual B.C. Winter Games make their first- ever appearance on the North Shore tomorrow night. By Andrew McCredie Sports Editor ‘The opening ceremonies of the four-day amateur athletic compe- tition take place tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Lonsdale recreation centre in North Vancouve: (Lonsdale Avenue and 23rd Sweet). Over 5,000 people are expected to atend the 24-hour ceremony, including many of the 2,800 athletes competing in the games and their fami- lies, and some of the over 4,000 North Shore volunteers. Ati tickets for the opening ceremonies are sold out. This weekend's Winter Games are not only Noth Vane sV7- Witla Gamigs Fenny 22-2 gye historic for the North Shore, but also for the Lower Mainland: the Games are the first-ever to be held in the Vancouver area. The North Vancouver Games, with over 30 sporting competitions, will also be the biggest ever. “We are more than ready,” said Games president Gerry Brewer. “We have achieved all of our goals ond we've had wonderful support from our community.” For Brewer, his fellow direc- tors and the countless behind-the- scenes workers, the weekend of athletic competition represents a culmination of over two years’ preparation. The provincial government announced North Vancouver as the site of the Games on Feb. 2, 1994. The only glitch thus far in the Games plan- ning proved beyond the directors’ control. Due to unseasonably warm weather this svinter on the North Shore, three ski competitions — biathlon, disabled skiing and moguls -- have been cancelled and cross-country ski events have been moved north to Whistler. “The local ski moun- tain people have done everything humanly possi- ble to make snow and move snow so that the majority of ski events — ee could take place,” Brewer Games president said, Gerry Erewer ... Beginning Friday “We are more morning, the athictes, than ready.” ranging in age from 12 to 80, get down to business (the majority of ath- letes are between the ages of 14 and 20). Competitions will continue through Sunday, with the closing ceremonies for the Games scheduled for 2 p.in at the Capilano College Sportsplex, 2055 Purcell Way, North Vancouver. Members of the public do not need tickets to attend the closing ceremonies. And once the Games are over, local commnu- nities will reap the benefits of a Winter Games legacy tund to assist in future community sport needs in North Vancouver. Admission to all Winter Games sporting events is free. See more Gantes news, page 4.