U.S. CUSTOMS AGENTS SINK SMUGGLING PLAN

Boat Allegedly Contained 210 Kg Of Ecstasy

A gambling debt -- and the prospect of receiving a cash payment of
$200,000 -- allegedly drove a Vancouver man to smuggle 210 kilograms
of ecstasy from B.C. to Washington this month.

That was the story Ka Wai Andy

Cheung gave to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on
Oct. 20, shortly after his arrest in Washington, according to court
documents.

Cheung, along with three Vancouver men, are now facing drug-smuggling
charges laid by U.S. federal prosecutors in Seattle.

The cross-border drug run allegedly began at 6 a.m. on Oct. 20 when
Wing Ho Jimmy Ho left a Vancouver boat slip and went straight to
Freshwater Bay on Washington's outer coast, a few kilometres west of
Port Angeles.

When Ho pulled into the bay four hours later on a 24-foot boat called
Just Chillin', he was allegedly met by Cheung and two other Vancouver
men.

The trio and Ho tried to haul the boat into a trailer but because the
trailer was too small for the boat, both quickly submerged, said court
documents.

U.S. Immigration and Customs special agent Nathan Clammer told the
court he had been tailing them for three days and as
they struggled with the boat, he offered to "help" the B.C. men pull
it and the trailer on to dry land.

After doing so, Clammer and other officers identified
themselves.

They broke the lock of a cabin door on the boat after being granted a
search warrant by telephone, and found five hockey bags and a suitcase
filled with ecstasy pills, court documents say.

Cheung, alleged to have initially told the officers he was in
Washington to go salmon fishing, later confessed to a different story.

He allegedly told the officers that it was his second time smuggling
drugs from Canada into the U.S.

He also allegedly explained to them that he owed money to an
individual for a gambling debt.

He told the officers that if he transported the drugs, not only would
the debt be waived but he'd also be paid $200,000, according to court
documents.

He also allegedly said that his three cohorts were also being paid to
transport the party drug.

All four men are now facing charges of conspiracy to import ecstasy
and possession with intent to distribute ecstasy.

In this most recent case, court papers allege the drugs were destined
for Los Angeles and Houston, Texas.

In those cities, three men have been arrested in connection to the
drug smuggling.

All four accused Vancouver men are currently being held at the federal
detention centre at Sea-Tac.