B.C. SMUGGLER USED LIVE BEARS AS DRUG DECOY

"Lions and cougars and bears. Oh my."

A B.C. man is in police custody stateside after more than $1 million
in marijuana was found hidden inside a trailer containing two
movie-star black bears.

The pot, sealed in plastic bags located inside a false wall in the
bear's sleeping area of the trailer, was sniffed out by a
crime-fighting canine named Theo.

Rod Hickman of the U.S. Customs Service said the suspect spilled the
beans about his ruined smuggling operation after his border arrest
last week.

The suspect told customs agents he was taking the docile bears to Los
Angeles to appear in a movie and planned to smuggle pot into the U.S.
and bring cocaine back into Canada as he had done before.

The man's unwitting accomplices -- two females named Corkie and
Pumpkin -- were used to divert the attention of customs officers.

Inside the trailer, officers located 166 pounds of high-grade
marijuana along with almost $300,000 in cash.

The suspect claimed he's used the ploy 10 times before with other
animals, although he claims he was only the driver in the other instances.

"He has also admitted that aside from this trip [he] has also used
lions and cougars and bears," Charles McLeod of U.S. Customs told a
Seattle TV station. "Oh my."

Officers said Theo was initially distracted by the bears but the black
Labrador eventually sniffed out the bud in the bust near Arlington,
Wash.

"Well, he's my bread and butter," the agent said of his canine charge.
"I'm real happy with him."

The bears are now in the custody of the Sarvey Emergency Animal
Shelter.

"They'll never be releaseable, they're humanized," said shelter
spokesman Dennis Whitney.

He added that the owner fed the bears a strict diet of turkey, not
realizing the beasts are omnivores and eat mostly fruits and
vegetables. "Hopefully, some day, depending on legal action, they'll
be placed in some kind of sanctuary."

Said McLeod: "I think it's just a perfect example of how far people will go
to smuggle narcotics and how pervasive the problem is."

The 23-year-old suspect appeared in federal court last week.