Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jun 2007
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Bruce Owen
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our 
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who 
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise 
public figures or officials.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)

B.C BUD HIDDEN IN TRUCK'S WALLS

Driver Recruited for Sting Operation

TWO Canadian men are in jail in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after they were
caught with part of a 272-kilogram shipment of high-grade 'B.C. bud'
marijuana that was first found hidden behind the false walls of a
shipping container at the Pembina, N.D., border crossing.

The initial May 14 seizure by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officers set off a four-day police undercover operation that stretched
from North Dakota to Cedar Rapids and ended in Chicago with the arrests.

[redacted] were charged with conspiracy to smuggle goods into the
United States, conspiracy to import controlled substances and
conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a
controlled substance, all federal felonies.

U.S. District Court documents in Cedar Rapids say U.S. border
authorities stopped a 2007 Kenworth tractor with Manitoba plates for
inspection at the Pembina crossing 100 kilometres south of Winnipeg.
The semi was hauling an empty shipping container on its trailer, but
officers used an imaging device to find the marijuana, Mike Milne,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman in Seattle, said in a
report.

The truck's driver and company employing him, Spirit Road Xpress of
Winnipeg, knew nothing of the container's false walls or the
marijuana, the court document said. They agreed to co-operate with
authorities and deliver the container -- minus half the marijuana --
to the customer known only as "Jim" to a truck stop in Iowa.

Police watched as the driver unhitched the trailer and drove away. On
May 16, a second truck hooked up the trailer and its container and
drove away. The suspect, "Jim," was arrested 30 minutes later. He
agreed to deliver the dope to customers in Chicago. He told
authorities he got involved in the Canadian cross-border dope trade
when he met "Tony" in Washington state more than a year earlier, and
had smuggled dope to him in Chicago the same way in April.

With police watching, Jim took the pot to Chicago on May 18, picked up
a man known as "Henry" and drove to a nearby house to unload the pot
into a garage. Police arrested Henry, whose name is [redacted].

Jim, still following Tony's orders, made a second delivery to a man
named "Dex" and another man at a public parking lot. Once Jim had
delivered the pot, they drove away in their own vehicles. They became
suspicious, tried to flee, but were soon arrested.

Dex was later identified as [redacted] and his friend as [redacted].

All three men remain before the courts. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake