DRUG BUSTS KEEP CUSTOMS HOPPING

WINDSOR, SARNIA CROSSINGS - Millions of dollars in pot and other illegal
narcotics were seized in what one U.S. Customs enforcement official
described as a "crazy" weekend of drug busts at the Windsor and Sarnia
border crossings.

Among the seized drugs was close to a tonne of high-grade B.C. bud worth
almost $9 million US found hidden inside a tractor-trailer load of Toronto
garbage.

The truck crossed the Blue Water Bridge early Saturday.

"This was a significant seizure weekend," U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) spokesman Greg Palmore said.

Two Ontario truckers appeared in U.S. federal court in Detroit Tuesday,
accused separately of attempting to smuggle large quantities of marijuana
across the border.

Both commercial vehicle operators were nabbed by ICE agents, alerted by
other border officials to the suspicious behaviour of the two men.

On Saturday, shortly before 4 a.m., a tractor-trailer hauling Toronto
garbage to the Carlton Farms landfill was attempting entry into Michigan at
the Blue Water Bridge when the driver's nervous answers to questions
sparked a more thorough probe.

U.S. Customs agents sifted through the load of solid waste and discovered
about 35 duffle and plastic garbage bags filled with what Palmore said was
1,855 pounds of high-grade British Columbia marijuana.

Surinder Pal Singh, 31, of Brampton, remains in U.S. custody after his
detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday was adjourned until Friday. Palmore
said Singh, an Indian citizen with Canadian landed immigrant status, will
be formally indicted today.

Shortly before 9 a.m. on Sunday, U.S. Customs at the Ambassador Bridge
discovered 105 pounds of marijuana in heat-sealed packages inside two large
duffle bags and a backpack in the sleeping compartment of a
tractor-trailer. The trailer contained a load of pork spareribs destined
for Battle Creek, Mich.

Kevin Ward, 37, of Hawkesbury, east of Ottawa, was deported to Canada
Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney's office has filed a criminal complaint in the
matter.

Among the other local seizures over the weekend:

- - An American citizen was found with 12 pounds of marijuana hidden in his
car's wheel well at the Windsor-Detroit tunnel.

- - Two U.S. citizens bound for Chicago with 10 pounds of pot in their car
were arrested on the Detroit side of the border.

- - A Canadian woman was stopped at the Ambassador Bridge with 80 pounds of
khat, a natural stimulant but controlled narcotic that is popular within
some African communities. Palmore pegged its street value at about $136,000 US.

"This shows the need for a continued level of heightened awareness," said
Palmore, adding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is continuing to
investigate.

"When they start using tractor-trailers and hockey bags ... that tells me
it's larger organizations (involved)," said Tony Pratapas, the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration's Ottawa-based attache to Canada.

The garbage truck pot seizure in Port Huron was a "significant" bust, said
Pratapas, who added he's aware of at least three other such interrupted
commercial garbage shipments "in the last year or so."

While not able to comment on specific cases, Canada Border Services Agency
spokesman Danny Yen said drug smuggling is of concern on both sides of the
border.

"We work very closely with domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies,"
he said.