U.S. BUSTS B.C. BUD SMUGGLING RING

More Than 1,350 Kilograms Of Marijuana And $1.8 Million US Seized

A pot pipeline that allegedly smuggled thousands of kilograms of B.C. bud
into Washington has been busted after a year-long investigation by U.S.
investigators.

Seventeen people have been arrested in the past week -- five of them
yesterday -- by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug
Enforcement Administration.

At least 11 people face charges of conspiracy to import and distribute
marijuana and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. The charges the
remaining six people face have not been disclosed.

More than 1,350 kilograms of B.C. bud and $1.8 million US were seized in
the investigation, which involved wiretapped telephone conversations and
surveillance at the border, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Washington.

The pot was found stashed in secret compartments in commercial trucks
entering the U.S. at the Peace Arch border crossing.

It's believed the ring distributed up to 225 kg of marijuana each week.

The alleged ringleaders are Long Van Nguyen, 38, of Tacoma, Wash., and
Nghia Pham, 36, of Auburn, Wash. They used numerous couriers to transport
and distribute pot from B.C. to customers in Washington, California and the
eastern U.S., according to court documents and federal prosecutors.

The 17 people arrested are all believed to be either Vietnamese-Americans
or Vietnamese with permanent residence status in the U.S., said Emily
Langlie of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

If convicted, they face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison
to a maximum of life imprisonment for conspiracy to import and distribute
marijuana. Conspiracy to engage in money laundering is punishable by up to
20 years in prison.

Joseph Giuliano, assistant chief with U.S. Customs and Border Protection,
said there has been an increase in seizures of B.C. bud in the past few
years -- although it's difficult to tell if that's because there's more pot
being trafficked or because there is more enforcement.

A courier is paid up to $100 US per bag of smuggled pot.

"They typically use people who are on the lower end of the criminal scale,"
said Giuliano. "They have a lot of drug users who need money fast. For a
while, they were using a lot of high-school kids from the Lower Mainland.
That was troublesome."

A 2000 report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said that
Canada-based outlaw motorcycle gangs and Vietnamese gangs are behind the
marijuana trafficking pipeline.

RCMP Insp. Paul Nadeau estimates that 50 per cent of B.C. bud is smuggled
into the U.S.

"Basically the value doubles if you can get it across the border, that's
why it's so attractive," said Nadeau. "Up here, [the going rate] is
anywhere between $2,000 to $2,500 per pound. And if you get it down into
the U.S., you can pretty much double that.

"There's all kinds of groups involved in it in different stages. "You'll
have a group that's acquired a certain expertise in growing the marijuana,
and then you'll have another group that's acquired an expertise in
brokering it, like finding buyers. Another group may be good at smuggling
it across the border and somebody else may be good at laundering the money.

"All those things put together, results in the marijuana reaching the
consumer in the U.S. and the U.S. dollars coming back to Canada."