BORDER GUARD CONVICTED OF DRUG SMUGGLING

A woman from Saskatoon who was an inspector for the Canadian Border
Service Agency (CBSA) will spend three years in a United States
prison for helping smuggle more than 700 kilograms of marijuana into the U.S.

Rose Chetrit Palmer, who worked for the agency in Stanstead, Que.,
crossed the border into Vermont in September 2004 and was arrested on
an outstanding warrant.

The 53-year-old woman, who had worked with the agency for 20 years,
pleaded guilty last April to conspiring with eight other people to
import more than 100 kilograms of marijuana into the U.S.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gelber said prosecutors believe Palmer
would ride in vehicles carrying deliveries of marijuana from Quebec
into Vermont.

"It's a small area where she works," he said, from Burlington, Vt.
"Our theory is that her presence in the vehicle meant that the
vehicle wouldn't be inspected." It's not known when Palmer left Saskatoon.

A U.S. district court indictment says Palmer and her alleged
accomplices smuggled the drugs into Vermont and elsewhere between
1999 and April 2002. Gelber wouldn't go into the details of how
immigration officials became wise to her activities.

"I can say that we had gotten statements from, and co-operation from,
a number of her co-defendants," he said. "We had people that she had
made deliveries to, and we had Canadian witnesses who had seen her
depart on her errands." On Aug. 16, U.S. District Judge J. Garvan
Murtha also sentenced Palmer to three years of supervised release
following her time in prison.

"Just for marijuana smuggling -- at least the way it is in this state
- -- (the sentence) would be a little high," Gelber said. "But
considering she was a border official, it wasn't high at all. We
haven't had a lot of them, so I can't generalize." The investigation
into the smuggling operation is ongoing, Gelber said.

Palmer's lawyer, Karen Shingler, didn't return a phone call Thursday.

Of the nine people indicted, only Palmer was a border guard.

Canadian Border Services Agency spokesperson Amelie Morin said
Palmer's indiscretion is an "isolated incident." "It in no way
(reflects) the integrity and professionalism of (the) 12,000
employees at the CBSA right now," she said.

All CBSA employees must pass a background check before they can work
with the agency, she said. The agency also investigates any reports
of misconduct, she said.

Palmer is no longer employed by the agency, she said.

U.S. and Canadian customs officials crossing into Canada are subject
to the same laws and policies as any other traveller, Morin said.

"There's no policy saying who (border guards) have to stop," she
said. "Part of their job is having some judgment. They use their
skills and experience to do their job." Although Morin had no
statistics on how many Canadian border officials have been involved
in smuggling operations, such incidents are "exceptional" and rare, she said.

Gelber said the U.S. has an "enormous" problem with drug smuggling
from Canada, especially in sparsely-populated Vermont.

"We do have a significant border, and an underpoliced border, with
Canada, so stuff gets smuggled through here, even though it's not
really intended for here," he said.

Vermont is a "pipeline" for drugs and illegal aliens headed for
Boston, Albany, N.Y., and New York City, he said.