Pubdate: Fri, 22 Mar 2002
Source: South Delta Leader (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 South Delta Leader
Contact:  http://www.southdeltaleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1241
Author: Philip Raphael
Note: With files from Jim Larsen, Whidbey News-Times
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

LADNER TUG SEIZED IN 'B.C. BUD' HAUL

Four Canadians, including three crew members of tugboat Delta Fox 
registered to a South Delta woman, have been arrested in connection with a 
US$1.2 million B.C.-grown marijuana haul in the San Juan Islands in 
Washington State.

Charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and 
importation of marijuana are: Edward Guy Bolderson, 63, captain of the 
Delta Fox, Mark Edward Bolderson, 40, Guy Cameron Crawford, 42; and Peter 
Francis Mitchell, 34.

According to Transport Canada's vessel registry query system, the tugboat 
Delta Fox, formerly known as the Glenayre, is owned by Virginia Jean 
Bolderson, listed as a resident of the 4900-block of River Road in Ladner.

Ladner Harbour manager Mike Owen told the Leader the tugboat was last seen 
in port without a barge on March 13 and that the owners were chronically 
late in paying moorage fees.

"We've got unpaid charges going back as far as 2000," Owen said, "and when 
all is said and done, they owe us just over $500."

Owen added the vessel was not a regular user of the harbour, but used to 
tie up near the Elliot Street fish sales float when it docked.

The arrests for smuggling were made early last Thursday, March 14, as the 
men allegedly tried to unload a barge at a popular pleasure boating station 
fronting Cornet Bay -a popular U.S. pleasure boating destination.

As reported in the Leader's sister paper, the Whidbey News-Times, 
suspicions were first aroused when staff at nearby Deception Park 
questioned why an apparent commercial operation was taking place on 
recreational park land at 7 a.m. By 9 a.m., the suspects were in custody as 
officers from the Island County Sheriff's Office, State Patrol, U.S. 
Customs, and other agencies combed the scene, using a drug-sniffing dog to 
inspect the unopened boxes. Police believe the drugs had been stored in the 
hold of the small barge, and then allegedly pushed ashore by the tugboat, 
Delta Fox.

All four suspects were taken to the Oak Harbor jail that morning and later 
appeared in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

State Trooper Scott Wernecke said during the search, a U.S. Customs agent 
opened one of the cardboard boxes and identified the contents as 20 to 25 
pounds of marijuana believed to be from B.C. A subsequent search of the 
container turned up a total of 374 plastic bags of the illegal drug 
weighing roughly 446 pounds.
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MAP posted-by: Beth