MOM HELPED MOVE DRUGS

A man accused of exporting large shipments of marijuana had his own
mother helping courier the drugs from Canada to the United States, a
witness told a Regina trial Tuesday.

Nile Simmons testified his cousin Daren Wayne Smith, of Abbotsford,
B.C., hired him in September 2001 for two drug runs into the U.S. via
Saskatchewan. He knew the illegal border crossing as "North Star," a
route near Lake Alma.

Just before his second trip, Simmons learned Smith's mother would
travel with him while her son stayed home. In Smith's garage, the trio
counted out half-pound bags of pot that were loaded in eight to 10
hockey bags, court heard. "There was lot," he said.

Simmons said he and his aunt drove the drugs across the
Saskatchewan-U.S. border, then to Los Angeles.

Simmons said he was present later when a man he knew as "Greg Cyr"
seemed angry at Smith for not having made the trip himself. Using
profanities, Cyr told Smith, "What an idiot! You sent your own
mother," Simmons testified. Simmons said he was promised $15,000 for
the trip, but got only $8,200 supposedly because, according to Smith,
the deal hadn't gone right.

Simmons is the second drug courier to testify at the trial. Smith, 40,
has pleaded not guilty to seven offences stemming from a drug
smuggling investigation dubbed "Project Farwest."

Smith was arrested and his house searched on June 22, 2002 -- two days
after authorities stopped a van near the border by Lake Alma and found
nine hockey bags holding 390 pounds of pot allegedly worth $1 million.
The van, rented by Smith, was driven by Paul Allan Noyce, who
testified Monday it was his second drug run.

During the raid on Smith's B.C. home, officers found a suitcase of
cash inside a shower. Insp. Doug Pott, of the RCMP's integrated
proceeds of crime unit, helped count the bundled money totaling
$568,170 Cdn and $111,920 US.

Police weren't the only ones to see a lot of cash in Smith's house.
Simmons said that during the drug run with Smith's mother, the hockey
bags of marijuana were off-loaded and replaced by about eight smaller
bags. Simmons said he never looked inside them, but saw Smith open one
bag upon their return. "I saw American currency," Simmons testified.
"He (Smith) said it was about $20,000 short of a million."

Simmons said he also made an earlier drug run with Smith himself. In
cross-examination, the defence suggested Smith didn't go and that the
"product" belonged to Smith's brother. While Simmons agreed the drugs
likely were from Smith's brother, he was adamant he travelled with
Smith to Montana shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11. In Montana,
only four of the approximately 10 hockey bags were unloaded. He said
Smith told him they had to head to Seattle "to work something out." In
Seattle, Smith left him to drive the drugs to Los Angeles, Simmons
said.

After giving the drugs to some people at a Los Angeles hotel, he
returned to Smith's B.C. home -- again via the illegal crossing in
Saskatchewan -- with about six to eight smaller bags, Simmons
testified. He never saw what they contained.