NORTH SHORE OWNED AND MANAGED District development clash:3 FRE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER danuary 28, 1987 News 985- 21310 Classified — =e an 986-0222 A RECENT RCMP undercover operation investigating the theft of thousands of dollars worth of stolen goods in North Vancouver has also Jed police to the arrest of six suspected drug dealers. Insp. Sal Salminen, of the North Vancouver RCMP, said the mon- th-long police operation resulted in the arrest of seven adult men, who now face 15 charges of possession of stolen property and one charge of theft. Another six adult) men were arrested on drug trafficking charges. About $13,000 worth of stolen property was recovered, “The undercover operation, called Stop, was designed to ad- dress the problem of break-ins and thefts,’’ said Salminen. ‘*We had an undercover officer come in and make contact with members of the local community, particularly those who were suspect. “As a spin-off, the officer came in contact with local drug dealers,’ Salminen said, ‘tand we decided, let’s take advantage of the opportunity.” Salminen said after the opera- tion into stolen goods concluded, the undercover officer spent three days investigating North Van- couver’s drug community. He said during that time the of- ficer was able to purchase a quan- tity of cocaine and hashish. after being approached by six drug dealers on separate occasions. Police jaid four charges of traf- ficking in cocaine, and six charges of trafficking in hashish against the men earlier this month, Salminen said the undercover operation began Nov. 27 and end- ed Christmas evening. Names of the men charged are being withheld unul they have made court appearances. Salminen said the majority of the recovered property, which in- cludes stereos, jewelry, video casseUle recorders and tools, came from North Vancouver, But some items Were stolen from West Vine rrand Richmond residences, d. With all the goods that were being stolen, we wanted to locate the market, It had to be more than peddling in bars. The purpose of the operation was to identify some of the channels this stolen property was going through. “fm pleased with the opera- tion.” Salimen said. ‘We've iden- tified some (of the channels), but certainly not all.” Sahninen said the undercover officer, who came from outside the North Vancouver RCMP detach- ment. was carefal not ta be accus- ed later of entrapment. “We certainly don’t want to create an atmosphere where we en- courage someone to get involved in trafficking or tteft. We won't come to you and say, ‘Cah you get me a VCR?’ What happens is the officer was approached and asked, ‘Are you in the market for a VCR?" Salminen said the undercover officer had to come from outside the local detachment because their own Officers are too well known to loval criminals. Last year in North Vancouver 1,184 residences and 431 businesses were burglarized. of Distribution 986-1337 48 pages 25¢ Hospital funds raised PAGE 35 ESR DELS gymnasts compete e PAGE 13 eats Ses? eS ie aca TRACEY GOODWIN and Pretzel have joined with hundreds of other North. Shore school children and canine. companions expected to participate in the Second Annual Dog-A-Thow at Mahon. Park this Saturday. The event is being held to raise money: for Variety Club. See story page 40. .