DRUG COPS LOSING

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DRUG COPS LOSING

Trying to stop "tonnes and tonnes" of cocaine from getting to the
streets of Toronto with just 14 cops is "a joke," says the RCMP
officer who heads Pearson airport's drug squad. But that's the hand
they've been dealt -- a drug team of 14 multi-force cops who must
patrol three terminals and filter through tens of thousands of
travellers every day, all the while splitting shifts and covering each
other for vacation time. They barely have enough time to fill out paperwork.

'IT'S A JOKE'

"Fourteen, that's the total drug squad. It's a joke. I can speak for
all drug squads in that we are all hindered by a lack of funding and a
lack of manpower," said RCMP Staff-Sgt. Bill Matheson, a 38-year
veteran who has been working drug enforcement at the airport since
1989.

"We are certainly not winning. It's a fact of life. We are doing the
best with what we have. Cocaine is being pumped through (the airport)
literally by the tonne and there sure is a lot more we could be doing
about it," he said.