Source: Langley Advance (CN BC) Website: http://www.langleyadvance.com/ Copyright: 2001 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc. Contact: Mon, 12 Feb 2001 Authors: Erin McKay, Troy Landreville DRUG RING JOINTLY BUSTED Cooperation between American and Canadian law enforcers helped bust a scheme that saw pot airdropped into Washington State and firearms, cocaine, and money smuggled into Canada. Crime-fighting hands across the border brought the heavy arm of the law down on a major, international drug ring. Langley RCMP, U.S. Customs Service, and the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. culminated a two-year drug-trafficking investigation this week with several arrests and the seizure of drugs, money, property and weapons which included tazers and crossbows. "I believe that is is an excellent example of effective cross-border law enforcement and the strong relationship between our agencies," said Rodney Tureaud, special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs Office of Investigation in Seattle, Washington. As a result of the operation, a house in Surrey, two Mercedes-Benz cars, a 1996 Ford F350 truck, a speed-boat, and an Astar 350 helicopter were seized, under proceeds of crime legislation. Nine people in the United States and five in Canada, who are believed to be the principal people involved in the ring, were arrested. Tureaud and Sgt. Randal Elliot of the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. joined Langley RCMP spokesman Cpl. Garry Begg on Tuesday, Jan. 23, to release of details on the investigation. The operations started in June, 1999, when a Canadian and an American were arrested at Squalicum Harbor in Washington, after 32 pounds of marijuana was found in a B.C.-registered, half-ton truck. A month later, police were told of a Washington State resident and two Canadians who were laundering money at a currency exchange business in B.C. The phone number of one of the Canadians involved had surfaced during the investigation at Squalicum Harbor. "Everything sort of unfolded from there," said Begg. The development of intelligence that followed lead to a number of different busts over the following months, and included arrests by U.S. Customs and RCMP of a number of Canadians and Americans possessing marijuana, some of which was destined for Idaho and Oregon. Money from drug deals and stolen property was also seized during various arrests in the summer of 2000. On Aug. 22, the Organized Crime Agency of B.C. set up surveillance and saw two men leave in a helicopter from an Abbotsford home. The chopper went to a remote logging road in the Mount Baker area, and three duffel bags were loaded into a vehicle with Washington plates. The car left and was seen going to a Bellingham home , where the bags were taken out. When the car left, it was stopped by Bellingham police, and the driver was found to be a Surrey resident. The Bellingham house was searched, and 85 pounds of marijuana seized. On September 10, 2000, a house in Abbotsford was searched and $250,000 U.S., $104,000 Canadian, three kilos of cocaine, 20 pounds of pot, two loaded handguns, and other weapons were seized. A member of an outlaw motorcycle gang from Calgary was at the home. "Using a variety of policing methods and techniques, authorities on both sides of the border developed, shared, and acted upon intelligence that resulted in the seizure of the drugs and assets," said Begg. "All of the Canadian principals who were involved have been arrested and released and Langley RCMP are processing charges, under the Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, against all of them," he said. Charges will include trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, conspiracy to traffic, possess, and export, laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of restricted and prohibited weapons, and possession of property obtained through the proceeds of crime. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew