NO WARRANT, NO SEARCH AT BORDER

Drug Conviction Void Because of Guards' Unsanctioned Inspection of Truck

Canada's border guards may be forced to change their ways after a B.C.
provincial court judge threw out a drug-smuggling case because there
had been no search warrant.

The Canada Border Service Agency is appealing last week's acquittal of
Ajitpal Singh Sekhon on charges of importing 50 kilograms of cocaine
into Canada.

The ruling is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada. B.C.
Provincial Court Judge Ellen Gordon ruled that border officers
violated three sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
when they interrogated and dismantled the truck Sekhon was driving
without first obtaining a search warrant.

The ruling meant the drugs seized by border officers could not be used
as evidence against Sekhon.

Sekhon, a Canadian citizen, tried to enter Canada at the Aldergrove
border crossing Jan. 25, 2005. A border guard decided Sekhon looked
suspiciously tense and sent him to be questioned in the customs office.

With the help of a drug-sniffing dog, guards found a false compartment
below the truck bed, at which point Sekhon was informed that he would
be detained and that he had the right to a lawyer.

Gordon concluded that Sekhon had been detained from the moment he was
locked inside the office, violating Sections 9 and 10 of the Charter,
which prohibit arbitrary detention and guarantee the right to a lawyer.

Custom Excise Union spokesman Steve Pellerin-Fowlie said yesterday the
implications of Gordon's ruling are huge for the country's 10,000
border service officers.

"This is unprecedented -- I've never heard of any border operation
requiring a search warrant. This would be such a break in procedure
and I don't know how it would be handled," he said.

In her ruling, Gordon said the search of the vehicle was
unconstitutional because the officers acted on their own without
judicial authorization.

"This is a wholesale change in procedure," said Pellerin-Fowlie. "It
would require hundreds if not thousands more people."

Telephone warrants are routine and can be provided in minutes. But
Pellerin-Fowlie said if officers are constantly trying to get search
warrants, it could create huge backlogs.

"Would a judge be on call 24 hours a day?" he asked. "It would require
hundreds, if not thousands, more people."

Chris Williams, a spokesman for the Canada Border Service Agency, said
the acquittal of Sekhon is being appealed. And, pending a further
ruling, there will be no changes in procedure at the border.

"The procedures and practices in place now . . . are based on previous
court precedents," he said.

Mike Milne of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said U.S. "border
search authority" -- long backed up by the courts -- "makes you
subject to a search without a warrant."