TIGHTER NET AT BORDER STOPS TONS OF DRUGS

Anti-Terrorist Steps Uncover More Marijuana

U.S. border protection agencies seized more than 5.5 tons of marijuana
coming into the country through Whatcom County from January through
November of 2004.

That's enough of the potent Canadian variety, known as B.C. Bud, to fill
nearly three semi trailers and outweigh three Honda Accords.

In an effort to catch terrorists, the federal government has spent millions
of dollars more on protecting Whatcom County's border with Canada since the
terrorist attacks of 9/11, adding about 200 border-related jobs, and
high-tech detection and intelligence equipment.

One side effect of the additional scrutiny is that officers are netting
tons more drugs.

"I just think law enforcement as a whole has gotten better," said Joe
Giuliano, U.S. Border Patrol deputy chief of the Blaine sector. "It would
be speculative to try and attribute it to more drugs."

If there were more drugs, there likely would be more consumers. But
Giuliano said the customer base seems to be about the same.

The amount of marijuana seized is down from 7.7 tons in 2003, but still is
double what was seized in the years just prior to 9/11.

The numbers dropped significantly at the ports of entry in Whatcom County,
from 11,590 pounds in 2003 to 4,777 for all but December of 2004.

Conversely, Border Patrol agents - who monitor the lands between official
ports of entry - seized more than 6,200 pounds of marijuana in the first 11
months of 2004 - up from 3,744 pounds in all of 2003.

Officials say it could be that smugglers have been scared off from the
ports of entry.

"With our resources, technology and intelligence, we like to think we're
displacing them," said Jerry Jensen, Customs and Border Protection
assistant area director. "The drug operations are going more to easier
types of ports along the border."

The seizure of such quantities of drugs has little or no effect on the drug
market in Whatcom County, in part because much of it is destined for other
locations, said Sgt. Kevin Hester of the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force.

And there seems to be an endless supply that law enforcement isn't catching.

"There's just too much of it," Hester said, though he could not provide
statistics.Marijuana sells for about $2,200 to $3,000 a pound.

The tons of marijuana seized on the way into Whatcom County are only a
fraction of the total amount of drugs seized coming into the country.

In 2003, Customs and Border Protection seized 2.2 million pounds of drugs
and $51 million in currency nationwide. Marijuana accounted for the bulk of
the drugs seized.

In addition to marijuana, in 2004 CBP and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement working in Whatcom County seized:

52.12 pounds of cocaine.

4pounds of hashish.

977 pounds of other narcotics.

$2.2 million in currency.

Border Patrol seized:

88.2 pounds of cocaine.

230 pounds of ephedrine, used to make methamphetamine.

59.8 pounds, or 400,000 tablets, of Ecstasy.

CBP officers in Whatcom County use a number of methods to detect suspicious
cargo in passenger cars and commercial trucks, including secondary
inspections and a gamma ray machine that looks through semi trailer walls
and into shipments like a doctor's X-ray machine.

But Jensen attributes a lot of the big busts to officer intuition.

During routine interviews, officers pay close attention to driver and
passenger behavior, and they are trained to notice irregularities in
vehicle bodies and engines.

While CBP guards the five ports of entry that dot the county line, U.S.
Border Patrol tries to catch everything - and everyone - in between.

"They'll (smugglers) try just about anywhere," Giuliano said. "Guys with
hockey bags, or vehicles will drive through wherever they shouldn't."

Officers have to pay close attention to Boundary Road on the U.S. side that
runs parallel to Zero Avenue in Canada, where it's easy for people to run
across.

In the summer, when farmers' raspberry fields grow high and thick, drug
smugglers have better cover, he said.

The Border Patrol uses cameras and motion detectors as additional eyes, and
plain-clothes officers work undercover.

Even with technology and additional staff, border agents can't be
everywhere and see everything. A few determined smugglers will traverse
mountains and forests, and paddle cross-border lakes to get into the United
States.

Giuliano said that's why border agencies' relationships with park rangers
and other law enforcement agencies are essential.

Despite drug seizures being a tangible result of the beefed-up border
protections, officials say the focus hasn't changed.

"Mission one is terrorism, and it's going to continue to be," Giuliano
said. "With things that go bump in the night, you don't know what you've
got until you've got it. Through night scopes and cameras, they all look
the same."