HEROIN WAS CONCEALED IN WEDDING PICTURES

Border agents at the Vancouver airport discovered that a female
traveller's pictures from a wedding in India were framed with heroin,
officials said.

Contraband-detection equipment revealed that 18 wood-framed photos,
and false sides of two suitcases, were packed with 11.5 kilograms of
the drug.

Organized crime is behind the smuggling attempt, police said.

"An investigation will be international in scope, to try to determine
where these drugs came from," said RCMP Const. Alex Borden of the
Border Integrity Unit.

The suspect was returning to Vancouver from a trip to India, officials
said.

"The photos were what we would describe as typical wedding/bridal
party photos," said Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Paula
Shore. "They were taken on the trip."

The heroin had been stashed between the large photos and the frame
backing, Shore said. "Then the entire piece was shellacked, it was
covered over to sort of seal the whole thing."

Shore would not reveal exactly who was in the pictures or what
prompted border agents to go over them with detection equipment.

"Our officers are well trained to notice inconsistencies, and they
did," Shore said. "It's never just one thing."

Kamaljit Kaur Dyal, a Surrey woman in her 40s, has been charged with
smuggling heroin and possessing the drug for trafficking. She remains
in police custody and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.