Pubdate: Wed, 16 Feb 2005
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Tom Godfrey, Toronto Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

POT TRADE A BIG BANG

POLICE AND Customs officers say Canadian pot is being traded by gangs for 
weapons in the U.S. and then smuggled into the country for resale or to 
settle feuds. Customs officials said they seized 1,100 weapons being 
smuggled into the country last year. Of those, more than 200 were seized at 
southern Ontario border crossings.

"There are cases from time to time that involve the smuggling of weapons by 
organized crime," Dan Yen of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said 
yesterday.

Yen said most guns are seized from U.S. citizens entering Canada by car.

"There is an ongoing battle to combat and keep weapons off the streets," he 
said. "Our officers are vigilant and always on the alert."

Ron Moran of the Customs Excise Union said the seizures are only the tip of 
the iceberg.

"Police intelligence shows gangs are trading Canadian marijuana for 
weapons," Moran said yesterday. "Every time this happens the weapons are 
smuggled into Canada."

Moran said his unarmed officers routinely seize high-calibre weapons from 
criminals and U.S. gun owners. Customs officials seized 5,000 firearms 
being snuck into the country in the last five years.
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MAP posted-by: Beth