FORMER BORDER GUARD SENTENCED FOR SMUGGLING

Customs Officers Faces 18 Months In U.S. Jail After Being Caught With
90 Kg Of Pot

A former Canada customs officer from Surrey who was caught trying to
smuggle almost 100 kilograms of marijuana into Washington state
earlier this year was sentenced to 18 months in jail Friday following
a hearing in U.S. federal district court in Seattle.

Altaf Merali, 37, will serve his prison term in a U.S. federal jail in
Washington or Oregon, according to district attorney David Jennings,
who prosecuted the case. Merali will then serve three years on
supervised release back home in Canada, Jennings said.

Merali pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to distribute
marijuana in the United States in September. He was arrested May 3 by
U.S. border guards in Blaine, Wash. with 90 kg of marijuana hidden in
his van.

Jennings said Merali was cooperative with authorities from the moment
of his arrest, telling border guards where to find the marijuana
before they began a search of his vehicle.

"That's what kind of hardened criminal he is," Jennings said in an
interview following the sentencing hearing.

Jennings said, based on U.S. sentencing guidelines -- which calculates
a suggested jail term based on the amount of drugs involved, previous
criminal record and abuse of trust -- Merali qualified to serve up to
46 months behind bars. But Jennings agreed to lower the length of jail
time he would seek because of Merali's cooperation.

Sentencing Judge Ricardo S. Martinez told Merali he violated a sacred
trust placed in him by the residents of both Canada and the U.S. to
protect the border, according to Jennings.

"That he was essentially law enforcement and he betrayed that trust,"
Jennings said, paraphrasing the judge's words. "That makes it very
significant. At the same time, much of the sentencing was a discussion
about how he [Merali] had accepted responsibility and cooperated.

"That doesn't eliminate what happened or the act," Jennings said, "but
it wasn't an easy sentencing for the participants, for the judge or
anyone."

Jennings said Merali's previous claims to U.S. authorities that he'd
been coerced into smuggling the drugs after his wife and two young
children were threatened by Indo-Canadian gangsters in his south
Surrey neighbourhood did not play a part in Friday's sentencing.

Reading from a letter written to the court by Merali's mother, Zaitan
Merali, Jennings said Merali's wife Jennifer has separated from her
husband since his arrest.

"His family life is ruined. His wife, a high school teacher, has lost
all trust in her husband and has filed for divorce," Jennings read
from the letter. "By his actions he has lost the family home that they
purchased."

Merali has also lost his job as a Canada Customs officer. Faith St.
John of the Canada Border Services Agency confirmed that Merali was
terminated from his job in July.

On Friday, Merali told the court that he deeply regretted his criminal
actions, and that telling his five-year-old son that he was going to
jail was the hardest thing he's ever had to do, according to Emily
Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.