DRUG DOGS TO CHECK LUGGAGE ON TRAINS

Via Rail Passengers' Bags Will Be Searched As Security Measure

VANCOUVER -- Passengers travelling on Via Rail will soon have their luggage
sniffed by police dogs during random searches for drugs or explosives, a
company official said Thursday.

The program -- similar to one in the United States called Jetway -- is
designed to increase security in Canada's passenger rail system, said
Malcolm Andrews, Via Rail's senior public affairs adviser.

"Our sensitivities regarding the safety and security of our passengers has
been heightened in the wake of 9/11 and the train bombing in Madrid," said
Andrews. "It won't happen every day or at set times but it will happen from
time to time."

He said the travelling public could expect to see signs alerting them to
the prospect of police searches within the near future. They'll be
conducted by officers and trained dogs.

Unlike airports, passengers boarding trains and buses in Canada do so
without a luggage search. This appears to have made rail travel a
particular favourite of drug couriers when moving illicit drugs around the
country.

Recently a provincial court in British Columbia was told how the Via Rail
station on Vancouver's Main Street is being targeted by drug squad officers
because of the amount of drugs being smuggled across the country by train.

Andrews said large drug seizures had occurred in Via Rail stations in both
Vancouver and Halifax.

"They are major ports into which drugs are smuggled so it's not really
surprising," he said.

The announcement came after trafficking charges against a man allegedly
found carrying 24 kilos of cocaine -- worth $800,000 on the street -- were
thrown out of Vancouver provincial court by Judge Catherine Bruce.

Bruce said the police lacked the grounds for a search warrant and ruled the
evidence seized couldn't be admitted in court.

She found the Jan. 3, 2003, search contravened the man's charter rights
because a hunch by police "cannot deprive the accused of the expectation of
privacy he had in his luggage, even in a public train station.

The police said Thursday that they'll appeal the decision.

Andrews said Via Rail staff have been trained in various techniques to spot
passengers who could pose a security threat or could be involved in a
criminal enterprise.

"They are not acting as police agents and we don't expect them to do
anything other than be vigilant. The travelling public has a right to
expect they will be safe and comfortable," he said.