Cops bust suspected Iqaluit crack dealer

ARTHUR JOHNSON

Crack, a highly addictive, fairly cheap form of cocaine, has found its way to Iqaluit, RCMP report.

When members of the RCMP’s drug enforcement unit and Iqaluit detachment executed a search warrant and combed through a house last Friday, they discovered and seized 36.6 grams of cocaine and 4.8 grams of crack. They also seized $11,680 in cash.

Constable Peter Lambros said it’s the first time he’s encountered crack in Iqaluit during a search. “Every time you find strong drugs, it starts to get worrisome,” he said.

Crack is made by combining cocaine with other chemicals to produce, hard, rock-like pellets, which are burned and inhaled as smoke.

Smoking crack produces an intense, but short-lived high, which tends to make it very addictive. Addicts often smoke crack numerous times daily.

This form of cocaine has devastated inner city neighbourhoods in the south, causing crime rates to soar as addicts break into homes and vehicles and rob businesses to pay for crack.

In recent years, though, crack use has started to decline in the south as other drugs, including methamphetamines and oxycontin, a prescription pain killer known on the street as “hillbilly heroin” because of its widespread use among the poor in the U.S. south, gained in popularity.

Lodi Barnes of Iqaluit has been charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime, and breaching undertakings on previous trafficking and possession charges.