LENGTHY CROSS-BORDER POT PROBE NETS 14 ARRESTS, HELICOPTER, BOAT AND
CAR SEIZURES

LANGLEY, B.C. (AP) - An 18-month, cross-border investigation has cracked a
major marijuana smuggling ring, resulting in 14 arrests and the seizure of
a house, luxury cars, a speedboat and even a helicopter.

Police made arrests on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and also seized
700 pounds of marijuana, more than six pounds of cocaine, guns and $480,000
in U.S. currency and $104,000 in Canadian currency, according to Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, B.C. Organized Crime Agency and U.S. Customs
authorities. The crackdown was disclosed yesterday.

Rodney Tureaud, special agent in charge of the U.S. Customs investigation
office in Seattle, praised his office's interaction with Canadian police as
the best relationship he's had in 25 years of law enforcement.

"They call us on a routine basis," said Tureaud. "We go out morning, day
and night together. You couldn't get more bang for your buck."

The busts began in June 1999, when U.S. Customs agents arrested a Canadian
and American in Washington state and seized about 32 pounds of pot.

"That's where we first became interested in this," said RCMP Cpl. Garry Begg=2E

Arrests and intelligence-gathering helped investigators on both sides build
a picture of the smuggling operation. In one instance observed by
investigators, potent Canadian-grown marijuana, known as B.C. Bud, was
flown by helicopter from the Abbotsford area, east of Vancouver, and
dropped across the border in Washington state, near Mount Baker, said RCMP
Cpl. Garry Begg.

U.S. Customs officials said the smugglers then brought cocaine back to Canada.

"The purpose for their existence was to traffic marijuana into the United
States," said Begg. "As far as we were concerned they were highly organized
and very good at what they were doing."

The helicopter believed used for the smuggling runs, which police valued at
$600,000 (U.S.), was seized under proceeds-of-crime legislation, along with
two Mercedes-Benz cars, a pickup truck and a speedboat. The helicopter was
seized in Bellingham.

"It's the first helicopter that I've ever seized," said Tureaud, whose
agents grabbed the aircraft in Bellingham, Wash.

More than a dozen Canadians and Americans were charged over the span of the
investigation with various drug-trafficking, money-laundering, conspiracy
and weapons counts. No names were released. A number in the United States
have already been convicted, imprisoned and released.

Tureaud acknowledged marijuana traffic into the United States has increased
yearly, but sidestepped questions about the effectiveness of Canadian law
in curbing its cultivation here.

"I think the smuggling of narcotics into the United States concerns all of
us," he said.

"Your laws are what you have to live with and our laws are what we have to
live with. We're working together to make it as effective as we can."

Begg said police are aware of large organized trafficking operations.

"This is one small cell," he said. "We know that we have a huge job out there.

"As much as we've done, there remains that much more to be done in this
regard."

Canada's fairly new proceeds-of-crime law, which allows police to seize
property and money that can be linked to criminal activity, is an effective
tool, Begg said.

"If we can seize homes, if we can seize boats and cars, that's a fairly
significant legislation and it works very well for us."