Pubdate: Sat, 22 May 2010
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2010 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Robert Matas

HOW SMUGGLERS MISS THE HIDDEN EYES ON OUR UNDEFENDED BORDER

Arrests of five men last month shows that ease of access into the 
U.S. can be an illusion Robert Matas  - From Saturday's Globe and Mail

The international boundary line here is open and unmarked, an easy 
walk for any smuggler.

A narrow strip of grass about 225 metres wide weaves between patches 
of farmland and evergreen forests, 15 kilometres east of the 
Canada-U.S. border crossing at Huntingdon, B.C., and Sumas, Wash. A 
few tired fences keep the cows from wandering too far from home, but 
nothing really blocks people who want to try their luck at crossing the line.

And try they do, here on Silver Lake Road and farther east, where 
five men were arrested last month, turning a spotlight on B.C.'s open 
border with Washington and the well-worn trails that smugglers use.

But the ease of access is an illusion.

To reach the other side, smugglers have to dodge high-tech motion 
sensors, cameras on tall metal sticks with even taller antennae, 
helicopter surveillance and border-patrol officers who sit in SUVs 
hidden behind farm sheds and in the trees, just waiting to pounce.

Ten kilometres further east, the border is considerably more 
difficult for authorities to monitor. Mother Nature may pose the 
biggest hurdles.

The boundary line cuts through the heavily forested Cascade Mountain 
Range. The little-known Liumchen Ecological Reserve is north of the 
border; Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, with peaks that wear 
their snow until mid-July, is on the south. A trail winds through 
mountainous slopes of Douglas fir, hemlock and red cedar. At this 
time of year, hungry black bears are emerging from hibernation; 
cougars and possibly mountain goats could be in the area.

Despite its dangers, smugglers take their chances: The trail is known 
to locals as Smugglers Point.

But even here, free access is not guaranteed. This is where the U.S. 
border patrol found snowshoe tracks on April 26 that led to the 
arrest of five men on charges related to smuggling 60.5 kilograms of 
marijuana across the border.

Those arrested included Canadian advertising executive Chris Neary, a 
former Telus marketing director responsible for a $30-million budget; 
Daryl Fontana, owner of a fitness centre in Duncan, B.C.; Sinisa 
Gavric, a Bosnian with permanent-resident status in Canada; B.C. 
resident Richard Bafaro who has both Canadian and U.S. citizenships; 
and Canadian Carl Thiessen.

Authorities say they found four backpacks with 111 heat-sealed 
plastic bags of marijuana. The five men have all pleaded not guilty. 
A jury trial has been set for July 6.

U.S. authorities say trails to smuggle contraband and illegal aliens 
between Canada and the U.S. are well known. Statistics were not 
available this week on the number of people caught smuggling on 
trails between B.C. and Washington. But Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman 
for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, said most of the office's 
work in court seems to be related to smuggling across the border.

"There is no huge wall, there is no fence," RCMP Sergeant Doug Pound, 
spokesman for the federal border-integrity program, said in an interview.

Many people use wilderness trails for hiking, biking and camping and 
may cross the border unaware or unconcerned about what they are 
doing, he said. Others have criminal intentions. "It is a recognized 
and understood method of transporting drugs across the border," he said.

Authorities recognize that they stop only a fraction of those intent 
on smuggling drugs across the border, he said, adding that no one 
knows how much goes through.

"By having the largest undefended land borders in the world, Canada 
must accept that it cannot 100 per cent control every person that 
tries to cross that border," Sgt. Pound said. "We cannot have a long 
line of RCMP members standing hand in hand along the border. We just 
do not have enough people to do that. For us, the goal is to maximize 
what we can do with the people we have."

Authorities say the U.S. Border Patrol regularly arrests smugglers on 
the route used by the five men arrested a few weeks ago. But they 
catch considerably more people crossing in more accessible spots, 
such as the Silver Lake Road area or the vicinity of the farmlands 
adjacent to the Sumas/Huntingdon crossing.

Those arrested in late April have not spoken publicly about the exact 
route they took or their experience of snowshoeing at night through 
the mountains. Law-enforcement officers recounted some details in 
court documents filed with the U.S. District Court in the Western 
District of Washington at Seattle.

Mr. Neary and Mr. Fontana were arrested "hiding in the woods" near 
the snowline of an old forest logging road, a court document says. 
The isolated single-lane road - a series of nausea-inducing 
switchbacks climbing up through the mountains - stretches about 20 
kilometres north, from the Mount Baker highway that runs across 
northwestern Washington state. Three weeks after the arrests, the 
snowline was about six kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border.

The court documents indicate the expedition began at a lower 
altitude. Mr. Neary allegedly started out from his Vancouver home 
early Sunday evening, April 25. Mr. Gavric was picked up around 9 
p.m. near the intersection of Commercial and Broadway in East Vancouver.

Mr. Thiessen was the driver, the documents say. He took the hikers to 
the Cultus Lake area east of Vancouver, about a 90-minute drive from 
where Mr. Gavric was picked up, and dropped them near the border, the 
documents state.

Smugglers at the southern tip of Cultus Lake have a choice of trails. 
They can go west, to the farmlands near the Huntingdon/Sumas border 
or to the road that runs across the border from Silver Lake Road. Or 
they can go east, into the untamed wilderness of the ecological 
reserve, and head toward the Canyon Creek area.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the integrated 
border enforcement team in Blaine, Wash., say the hikers went east. 
The U.S. agents spotted snowshoe tracks at the border at 11 a.m., 
around 12 hours after the hikers had been dropped off. Federal agents 
found Mr. Neary, Mr. Fontana and Mr. Gavric in the snow three hours 
later. They followed tracks in the snow to find backpacks with 
marijuana, they say.

Mr. Thiessen drove up the road and was taken into custody by 
border-patrol agents. Mr. Bafaro was arrested when he came to a hotel 
in nearby Bellingham, Wash., that was under surveillance.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart