Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jul 2005
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2005 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Brian Hayes

FIGHTING TO CONTAIN CRIME

Halifax Desirable Port Of Entry For Ships Unloading Illicit Cargo

Every day, away from the public view and in the biggest cities and smallest 
towns, a sophisticated cat-and-mouse game pits border security agents 
against international crime gangs.

In Atlantic Canada last year, the Canada Border Services Agency's more than 
400 officers and 300 other employees seized $47,177,640 worth of narcotics.

The 146 drug busts netted 251 kilograms of drugs, including 203 kilograms 
of cocaine and 48 kilograms of opium.

They also seized enough ecstasy for 553,000 doses and 400 grams of marijuana.

But the smugglers never quit.

Container traffic has made Halifax a desirable port of entry for ships 
unloading illicit cargo.

Two of the four major seizures last year took place here, the other two 
were at ports in Sydney and Belledune, N.B.

Targeting containers arriving in Halifax, agents seized 48 kilograms of 
opium in November with an estimated street value of $2.4 million. Officers 
and a detector dog discovered the drugs inside two wooden door panels of a 
container bound for Ontario from Iran.

An ecstasy seizure in January from another targeted container at the port 
netted 110 kilograms worth over $19 million.

Digital video images from submersibles in Sydney Harbour in June and at 
Belledune in December revealed large quantities of cocaine attached to the 
ships' hulls.

The Sydney seizure of 68 kilograms was worth about $8.5 million, and at 
Belledune 52 kilograms worth about $6.5 million was discovered.

But things are quieter this year, so far. No major seizures have been made, 
according to Jennifer Morrison, communications manager for the Canada 
Border Services Agency.

Even customs officers admit being impressed with the smuglers' ingenuity.

In 1998, for example, customs investigators at the Halifax container 
terminal found $26.2 million worth of marijuana packed inside spinach cans 
destined for the Toronto area. The cans, which contained plastic packets 
full of 1,748 kilograms of marijuana and oil from the drug, were among 
1,275 cases of food inside a marine container from Kingston, Jamaica.

"It's a pretty good method, it's not easy to detect," a customs official 
said at the time.

In February 2003, agents made what is believed to be the biggest-ever 
hashish seizure by volume at the Port of Halifax when 11.5 tonnes, worth 
about $210 million on the street, was found in a shipping container 
unloaded at the Fairview Cove terminal.

Investigators said the hash arrived in a cargo of cotton fabric and cat 
food. The drug was loaded in Pakistan and sent to Hong Kong, where it was 
transferred to another ship that went through a number of ports, including 
stops in Malaysia, Singapore and Italy, before arriving in Halifax on its 
way to Montreal.

"When you are speaking of drugs of this magnitude, organized crime is 
likely involved," Jack Fagan, head of customs intelligence in Atlantic 
Canada, speculated after the seizure.

Federal Crown attorney James Martin said containers filled with large 
quantities of drugs are shipped on to Montreal, Toronto and other Canadian 
destinations where they're broken down and in some cases filtered back into 
this region through mid-level operations.

In recent years, he said, containers have become the shipping method of 
choice for traffickers.

"We have seen a dramatic decrease in offloading of drugs from ships along 
the coastline," Mr. Martin said. He attributed the decline to "incredibly 
high" prison sentences handed out in the Atlantic region in the 1980s and '90s.

Mr. Martin said organizations that have been into importing for a long time 
are running some of the operations.

"They have an organized pattern that gets repeated," he said.

"It's organized when individuals come together for an agreement and plan to 
bring in a tonne of coke or four tonnes of cannabis resin. It takes a lot 
of money upfront for these huge operations."

Crack cocaine is the most common hard drug, Mr. Martin said.

"Fortunately in Atlantic Canada, we haven't seen very much heroin," he 
said. "We're extremely fortunate for whatever cultural or economic reason . 
. . to avoid that travesty being experienced in Montreal, Toronto and 
Vancouver."

Mr. Martin said marijuana growing operations in the Atlantic region are on 
the rise and have become very sophisticated.

"We've seen a dramatic increase in marijuana grow operations that have 
increased in sophistication tenfold in four or five years," he said.

Growers often virtually rebuild homes by installing ventilation systems up 
through floors and filtering the smell of the marijuana through the 
chimneys, Mr. Martin said.

Electrical and wiring systems are also increasingly sophisticated.

"We can the say the quality of plants seized are better and the yields are 
better," he said.

Mr. Martin said police have indicated to him that the high volumes of 
production suggest the dope is destined for the U.S. market.

He noted that in the past three or four years, "the classic petty retailer" 
is disappearing.

"We're finding retailers are extremely organized, they have an apartment 
being operated by staff working shifts 24 hours a day," Mr. Martin said.

"They use young offenders, people with no records, women with children, 
anybody that might be seen by the courts to be looked upon more favourably 
during a sentencing hearing."

The small retail operations that do survive are becoming more 
sophisticated, he said.

"The operations are larger and there seems to be a trend toward a group of 
individuals taking over a certain geographical area to set up these shops, 
resulting in confrontation between rival groups."

Mr. Martin said small-time retailers have now become mid-level dealers 
because they are bringing in crack cocaine, dividing it up and selling it 
in larger quantities.

And there's another worrisome development along with the changes in the 
street drug scene.

"We're seeing a troubling trend between drugs and the increase in the 
number of weapons seized in raids," he said.

"The line is also slowly disappearing between those dealing in soft and 
hard drugs."

Mr. Martin said organization is paramount in almost all drug trafficking 
offences.

"Dealers have to get their drugs, they have to set up their retail 
locations and they have to make a decision . . . to take that particular 
risk," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth