SASK. SEIZED MORE POT IN 2003 THAN OTHER PRAIRIE PROVINCES

REGINA -- Drug enforcement agencies seized more than 2,200 kilograms
of marijuana in Saskatchewan in 2003 -- almost as much as in Alberta
and Manitoba combined, says a recent RCMP report.

The high volume of Saskatchewan seizures is partially due to alert
RCMP officers uncovering caches during roadside checks, said Cpl.
Brian Jones of the RCMP.

"We've had a number of several hundred-pound seizures that have been
detected on Saskatchewan highways, which speaks to the work that our
traffic service members and our detachment members are doing in
conducting investigations during traffic stops," Jones said.

"There's no indication that those drugs were intended for
Saskatchewan, but what it does tell us is that there is a
cross-country trade in illicit narcotics."

According to the RCMP report, seizures conducted by the RCMP and
various Canadian agencies and departments involved in drug enforcement
resulted in 21,520 kilograms of bulk marijuana seized in Canada in
2003.

The province with the most marijuana seized was Ontario, with 7,509
kgs. Quebec ranked second with 5,138 kg seized followed by British
Columbia (3,785 kg) and Saskatchewan (2,258 kg).

In comparison, 1,044 kg of marijuana were seized in Manitoba and 1,360
kg in Alberta.

Good timing and good circumstances have aided Saskatchewan RCMP and
helps explain the discrepancy between marijuana seizures in the
Prairie provinces, Jones said.

"Also what happens is that we have been very successful in the past,
and where you have been successful, that creates an interest and a
recognition that hard work will pay off so the more they seize the
more they want to go out and find and look for," he said.

In past years, statistics weren't broken down by province.