Pubdate: Sun, 22 Dec 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Jason Proctor

WAR ON TERROR AIDS WAR ON DRUGS

Tighter Security At U.S. Border After 9/11 Has Led To More Pot Busts

BLAINE,  Wash. -- From the U.S. Customs offices at the Pacific Highway 
truck crossing, Jay Brandt looks almost bored as conversation turns to the 
possibility of Canada decriminalizing marijuana.

Senate  reports, House committees, studies and proposals. Outside, the 
mid-morning  lineup  of  tractor-trailers  waiting to cross the border 
stretches back for nearly a kilometre.

Assistant  port  director  for  trade, Brandt wastes little time as he 
dismisses  the issue. He's wearing a colourful Christmas tie, but he's all 
business when it comes to drugs.

"It's  still  illegal here," he says simply. "I don't think it's going to 
change our approach. We'll proceed just like we usually do."

While  Canada  appears  headed  toward  a  liberalization  of its drug 
policies, U.S. officials here say they're more determined than ever to 
crack down on the lucrative marijuana trade.

The  War  on  Terror may have pushed the War on Drugs off front pages, 
but  increased  security  and scrutiny post 9/11 has led to a B.C. bud 
bonanza at the border.

The No. 1 priority at the borders has shifted to searching for weapons of 
mass destruction. No. 2 is drugs. But during the past year, customs 
officials  have  seen  a  spike  in  pot seizures involving commercial 
trucks.  The  Pacific  Highway crossing alone has seen more than 3,700 
kilograms  of marijuana confiscated in over two dozen busts since Oct. 4, 2001.

The  pot  begins its journey at a value of about $6,600 a kilo. By the 
time  it  reaches  California -- the most popular destination for B.C. 
weed  -- the  marijuana  is worth twice that amount, a figure that put the 
recent spate of seizures at a street value of $49 million.

"We  are  required to examine more people, more trucks and more cars," 
says  Mike  Milne, Seattle press officer for the U.S. Customs service. 
"By  the  mere  fact  that we're looking at more stuff, we're bound to find 
more."

Milne  describes  the  pattern  of  seizures  as  being similar to the 
carnival  game  "whack-a-mole"  -- no sooner do officers crack down on one 
port of entry than smugglers move to another.

Caught  in  the middle are the truckers -- some of whom appear to know what 
they're carrying and some of whom do not. Ignorance is no defence 
but  it  may  determine  whether  or not an individual is charged with 
simple  possession  as  opposed  to  possession  with  the  intent  to 
distribute, which brings a much harsher penalty.

Whatcom County court files are filled with indictments against drivers 
who  have  been busted with amounts ranging from eight to 680 kilos of pot 
in their vehicles.

Glass  bottles,  furniture,  wire,  cardboard,  waste  paper, recycled 
clothing,  beer, bottled water, PVC tubing, blueberries, salal, steel, 
mushrooms,  even  chilled  fish -- if it crosses the border, smugglers have 
attempted to use it to conceal shipments of marijuana.

B.C.  Trucking  Association  president  Paul  Landry  says drivers can 
easily find themselves used as unsuspecting mules.

"As  long  as  part  of  your truck is somewhere and in someone else's 
control,  anything can happen," he says. "I don't know what the answer 
is.  I  don't know how a driver can be 100-per-cent satisfied he's not 
carrying contraband."

If  border control seems tight right now, Milne says it's about to get 
even  tougher  as  authorities  on  both  sides  of the border work to 
streamline the inspection process.

Beginning  last  summer, U.S. Customs started taking applications from 
brokers,   freight   forwarders  and  carriers  for  membership  in  a 
customs-trade partnership program dubbed C-TPAT.

Most  crucial  for  the trucking business is the Free and Secure Trade 
program between the United States and Canada.

Operating   along  the  same  principles  as  the  NEXUS  program  for 
individuals,  FAST  requires carriers, shippers, drivers and importers 
to  undergo  criminal checks and detailed customs approval in order to 
avoid additional scrutiny at the border.

In  order to meet FAST standards, carriers' buildings and yards should be 
constructed of materials that resist unlawful entry. International, 
domestic,  high-value  and dangerous cargo should be segregated within the 
warehouse by a "safe, caged or otherwise fenced-in area."

All  that information, along with detailed descriptions of cargo, will 
be  conveyed  to  inspectors  before trucks ever arrive at the border, 
hopefully making it virtually impossible to sneak weapons of terror -- 
or  drugs  -- across. Milne says applicants with a history of criminal 
problems will lose out.

"Your  track  record  is one of the considerations, and that's whether 
you're  an  importer,  whether  you're  a  driver  or whether you're a 
carrier,"  he  says. "It will certainly be a factor in our examination of 
their application."

Back  at  the truck crossing, Brandt bristles with pride as he gives a 
tour  of  his facility and all the high-tech equipment officers use to 
do  their jobs. Since Sept. 11, 2001, he has received more staff, more 
resources and the exceptionally high-tech Vehicle and Cargo Inspection 
System,   which   can  scan  a  trailer  in  seconds  to  find  hidden 
compartments and contraband.

They've yet to seize a single weapon of mass destruction.

A  cynic  might  say  that  the War on Terror by any other name is, in 
fact, the War on Drugs.

"I  don't  have  that  opinion,"  says  Brandt.  "I  suppose  that's a 
perception that could be out there."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens