Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Apr 19/02) - An Inuvik man was arrested Sunday and charged with trafficking crack and powdered cocaine.

A 24-year-old man was charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of marijuana and unsafe storage of a firearm. Over $20,000 was also seized in the arrest.

Staff Sgt. Mark Wharton said the arrest represents the first major arrest of its kind in Inuvik and it was a result of an on-going police investigation that led to enough evidence to make the bust.

"This is the first arrest of a substantial quantity of cocaine, as opposed to just arresting someone in a fight, who happened to have a gram of coke in his pocket," Wharton said.

Crack is a purified form of cocaine that is smoked and much more addictive than powdered cocaine, which is snorted or injected. Wharton said the drug was purified elsewhere before coming into Inuvik.

Wharton said a half-ounce of marijuana was found, but the amount of cocaine seized is not yet known, but Wharton said it is valued at "thousands of dollars."

The trafficking charge was laid as the crack and powdered cocaine were clearly divided for resale.

"It was packaged for street-level trafficking -- it wasn't one or two large packages, it was a lot of small packages ready to go," Wharton said.

The cocaine has been sent to Yellowknife for analysis along with the money and marijuana.

The arrest confirms what the police have long suspected, but many others doubted.

"A lot of people in town don't believe that there is cocaine here," Wharton said. "We've heard about it, we have intelligence on it, but to actually get it and seize it, is quite another thing."

He said as is often the case, the drugs simply follow the money.

"The discretionary income is quite high in this community, compared to others, and some people have decided they are going to spend that money on drugs," Wharton said.

The man was released on conditions and will face his first court appearance on June 17.