PAROLED TRAFFICKER QUICKLY DEPORTED

A man growing pot in La Salle just over a year ago was kicked out of
Canada for good Monday.

Thang Tu Nguyen was arrested Jan. 27, 2006, after Mounties raided his
home at 6 Vouriot Rd. in La Salle, just south of Winnipeg, and seized
about 750 pot plants and a small amount of crack.

Nguyen was convicted of drug possession and trafficking and last June
was handed a two-year jail sentence.

The National Parole Board decided in December to grant him full
parole when eligible, and he was released from prison last Wednesday.

But instead of enjoying his freedom, Nguyen was immediately handed
over to officers from the Canada Border Services Agency, who during
his prison term had been preparing to kick him out of the country.

Lisa White, a spokeswoman for the CBSA, said all non-Canadians who
commit crimes in Canada are generally kicked out, barring appeals.
The length of the ban depends on the seriousness of their crimes.

'Don't want criminals'

Due to privacy constraints White could not say where Nguyen was from
or where he was deported to but she did confirm he is a foreign
national or non-Canadian. His deportation is permanent.

"We just want people to know that we don't want criminals in Canada
and that our role is to remove them," said White, who said the agency
has decided to start making these deportations public.

"We remove people quite frequently. There are removals more or less
every day (across Canada)."

"The first step is to rule them inadmissible because of criminality,
to show they've violated the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act," she said.

"But we can't proceed with removing anyone until they've completed
their sentence or granted full parole. Day parole doesn't count."

Once the prisoner is handed over, the CBSA escorts them out of the
country as soon as possible. In Nguyen's case his deportation came
four days after his release from prison.

The CBSA has four options when deciding where to send someone:
country of birth, country of citizenship, country of nationality or
the last country they were in before coming to Canada.

CBSA officers generally escort people to their final destination,
although that is decided on a case-by-case basis depending on flight risk.