SURREY TRUCKER FACES 10 YEARS IN JAIL FOR TRYING TO SMUGGLE COCAINE
ACROSS BORDER

SURREY - A Surrey trucker will face at least 10 years in a U.S.
prison after being found guilty Thursday in Seattle of trying to
smuggle 115 kilograms of cocaine across the border into B.C.

Steve Attila Czinege, 40, was caught a year ago trying to re-enter
Canada with the cocaine hidden in the fuel tanks of his tractor-trailer rig.

Czinege told border officials the vehicle was empty, but a search
revealed the illicit drugs, worth more than $2 million Cdn.

A jury found the trucker guilty after a day-long trial. Because of
the quantity of the drug, he will face a minimum of a decade behind
bars when sentenced May 7.

Czinege claimed during his trial he was forced to smuggle the cocaine
after he attempted to smuggle 150 kilograms of marijuana into the
U.S., but the truck was seized by authorities.

He said he was threatened with harm if he did not do what he was told.

The conviction comes the same week as Canada's integrated border
enforcement team established a truckers' hotline to encourage the
public to report incidents of drug smuggling by commercial truckers.
The number is: 1-888-598-4602