Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jul 2005
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2005 Southam Inc.
Contact:  http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Jonathan Fowlie, with files from Brad Badelt, Anne Dawson, 
CanWest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POLICE UNCOVER THE TRENCH CONNECTION TUNNEL

As tunnels go, it was pretty sophisticated, police say. It had wood 
supports and concrete reinforced with steel. The builders had 
installed a small cart to allow them to move freight or people from 
one end to the other.

One end of the tunnel ran from a Quonset-style hut in the rural 
Aldergrove neighbourhood of Langley, B.C.

The other end came up 110 metres away in the living room of a home in 
another rural community -- Lynden, in the U.S. Pacific Northwest 
state of Washington.

For five months, Canadian and U.S. investigators spied on the 
progress of the freshly dug subterranean route.

The tunnel is approximately three metres deep and 110 metres long. 
The suspects entered it through an opening hidden in a Quonset-style 
hut on a property in Langley, B.C. The walls of the tunnel were 
reinforced with concrete, rebar and two-by-six wood supports. Three 
Surrey, B.C., men were arrested and charged with conspiracy to 
distribute and import marijuana.

Hidden cameras filmed three men hauling hockey and trash bags stuffed 
with drugs through the tunnel and loading them into a van on the U.S. 
side for delivery.

Eventually, authorities swept in to bury what they said was the first 
smuggling tunnel found on the border.

Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle said Francis 
Devandra Raj, 30, Timothy Woo, 34, and Johnathan Valenzuela, 27, all 
of Surrey, B.C., were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana 
and conspiracy to import marijuana.

All three suspects are "well-known" to police in B.C., RCMP Inspector 
Pat Fogarty said.

Raj was charged with possessing drugs for trafficking in 1999. The 
charge was stayed, court records say.

Woo had a U.S. warrant for his arrest, because police believed he had 
operated as a courier for a U.S. pot-smuggling group.

According to provincial records, Raj purchased the Langley property 
in March, 2004. The tunnel took more than a year to dig and was 
completed just three weeks ago, authorities say.

"This tunnel was ambitious, sophisticated, and an example of the 
lengths individuals and criminal organizations will go to for illegal 
profits. Thanks to an intelligence-led investigation and a 
co-ordinated approach between Canadian and U.S. agencies, it has been 
shut down," Insp. Fogarty said.

Canada's Border Services Agency became aware of the tunnel last 
February and alerted the RCMP unit that combats organized crime in 
B.C. Officers on both sides of the border began monitoring activity 
on the two properties.

Using a delayed-notice search warrant, agents entered the home on 
July 2 to examine the tunnel. A short time later, a U.S. District 
Court judge authorized the installation of cameras and listening 
devices in the home to monitor activities.

They watched as two of the suspects smuggled U.S. beer north of the 
border -- something that stymied the tickled investigators who had 
long thought Canadian beer was supposed to be superior to American ale.

Gregory Gassett, an assistant special agent with the Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA), said the three men worked on the tunnel almost 
non-stop, tirelessly digging with shovels six days each week for 
about eight months.

He said they would arrive at about 8 a.m. each day and would 
disappear into the hut and not emerge until about 9 or 10 p.m.

Insp. Fogarty added that while the men were digging, they would load 
the dirt into a rolling container and then into a trailer waiting in 
the hut above.

He said the tunnel was outfitted with its own power, ventilation 
shaft and even a sump pump that would come on every 12 minutes to 
make sure it did not fill with water.

Insp. Fogarty said the tunnel had been reinforced with concrete and 
rebar and was lined with about 1,000 planks of two-by-six lumber to 
ensure it was structurally sound.

The tunnel ranged in height from 0.9 to three metres.

Though construction on the tunnel was virtually non-stop, neighbours 
in the area say they had no idea what was going on.

There were reports that an audio tape of automobile repairs and 
banging metal was used to mask the digging work inside the hut.

"It's just bizarre," said Julie Luke, the woman who lives next to the 
rundown property.

Ms. Luke said one of the three men who used to be on the property had 
gone out of his way to introduce himself after he bought the place, 
and had told her he was planning to operate an auto body repair shop.

"He seemed like a normal guy," Ms. Luke said, still surprised at the 
news. "Really friendly."

Chris Bauder, who was contracted to haul junk off the property 
shortly after Mr. Raj bought it, said he was immediately suspicious.

"I just thought this is the wrong kind of guy in the wrong kind of 
profession," he said.

Investigators said yesterday they seized 42 kilograms of marijuana 
during Wednesday's raid.

Officials admit that large amounts of marijuana are smuggled into the 
United States each year from B.C., where the pot-growing market has 
swelled to more than $2-billion.

Although tunnels have been found at the southern border of the United 
States, this is the first tunnel ever discovered between Canada and 
the United States.

"This tunnel seizure, the first of its kind on the United States and 
Canada border, is one of only 34 cross-border tunnels ever discovered 
in the United States. This unregulated and uncontrolled point of 
entry could have constituted a real threat to the United States, not 
only in terms of drug trafficking, but to the national security of 
our nation," said Rodney Benson, special agent in charge of the DEA, 
Seattle field division.

"The presence of a tunnel on our northern border threatens the 
security of countries, whether it is used to smuggle drugs, 
contraband or even terrorists," stated United States Attorney John 
McKay. "Shutting it down, just as it is completed, is a huge blow to 
these criminals."

Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan did not specifically comment on 
whether the discovery of the tunnel represented a security threat to 
Canada, but said: "What it signals, as we have known, is that 
organized crime is a very serious challenge globally and certainly 
for Canada and the United States."

Yesterday, the three men were brought into U.S. District Court in 
Seattle, where a magistrate remanded them to a federal detention 
centre. A hearing to determine whether they will remain behind bars 
was set for Tuesday.

As for the tunnel, it will be destroyed.
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MAP posted-by: Beth