LANGLEY TRUCK CAUGHT WITH $60M IN DRUGS

Lower Mainland company's vehicles, drivers linked to three cases of
cross-border pot smuggling

A truck intercepted near Calgary with about $60 million worth of cocaine and
marijuana on board belonged to a Langley company with a history of similar
problems.

Galaxy Freightways owns the tractor-trailer unit seized on Saturday by
Calgary police at a weigh station just west of the city.

Along with a legitimate cargo of dry goods were 69 oversized hockey duffel
bags stuffed with 226 kilograms of cocaine and 1,587 kg of marijuana,
Staff-Sgt. Roger Chaffin of the Calgary police said yesterday.

"They were all named and tagged for destinations into Eastern Canada and
into the eastern portions of the United States," he said.

Shipment organizers had struggled with the U.S. names, misspelling Boston
and Connecticut.

The driver has been released while the investigation continues, Chaffin
said.

Trucks linked to Galaxy and its drivers were the focus of at least three
international police investigations into large marijuana shipments last
year.

The company is even charged in one U.S. indictment where a driver was nabbed
at the border in Sweetgrass, Mont., with 545 kg of marijuana.

After last weekend's bust, Galaxy staff grew so concerned for their safety
that yesterday they were working outside the office.

One spokesperson for the company, who asked not to be named, said the
company has nothing to do with the drug-running operation and is being used
by unscrupulous drivers to ferry illicit cargo.

Langley RCMP said the company had lost track of the truck and had called to
report it stolen before learning of the Calgary arrest.

The company spokesperson said Galaxy does its best to screen out
unscrupulous drivers.

All references are thoroughly checked, the person said.

"But how well do you really know a person?"

Galaxy regularly keeps tabs on drivers on the road. It even looked into
equipping its trucks with satellite-tracking devices but found the cost
prohibitive.

The company spokesperson said the firm's owner was devastated by news of the
latest police investigation.

"The financial costs over this are enough to break a small company," the
spokesperson said.