FERRY DRUG BUSTS AN 'ABUSE OF POWER'

It's an abuse of power for police to board a B.C. ferry to randomly sniff
out drugs among passengers, a B.C. Civil Liberties Association official
said after the seizure of more than seven kilograms of marijuana on the
Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry.

"These guys are trolling around the ferry, hoping to bust somebody. It's
just a joke," association president John Dixon said Wednesday. "It's a
completely unreasonable use of what we are told is scarce police resources."

Dixon's comments came after a group of 12 plainclothed police officers and
five drug-sniffing dogs from five police agencies boarded the 8:30 a.m.
ferry at Horseshoe Bay, bound for Departure Bay (Nanaimo) on Tuesday. The
officers stayed onboard for four sailings.

As a result of what a West Vancouver police news release called a
"non-invasive drug enforcement initiative on the ferry car decks," more
than seven kilograms of marijuana were seized in seven separate seizures
from vehicles during the four sailings.

Eight people were arrested, but only three will be facing charges on two
large seizures, the police statement said.

Dixon is upset over what he called a "dragnet" operation that had "no
reasonable and probable grounds to be conducted."

The arrests, Dixon said, were a violation of civil rights because the
police did not have a search warrant to let them board the ferry.

"They [police] have to have reasonable and probable cause to believe that a
specific individual was using the ferry transport system in the commission
of a criminal offence," Dixon said. "Otherwise, they're on a fishing
expedition that has the consequence of needlessly invading the privacy and
security of other travellers on the ferry."

West Vancouver police Sergeant Bob Fontaine confirmed that police did not
have a search warrant. However, Fontaine said the police had reasonable and
probable grounds to board the ferry.

"Our grounds would be that we've stopped numerous people coming from the
ferries, we've had large seizures from the ferries, and we've also received
information in the past that drugs are being transported on that ferry,"
Fontaine said.

Fontaine said that once police had boarded the ferry, reasonable and
probable grounds to check vehicles were established by the drug-sniffing dogs.

"In a case like this, the dog itself will indicate that there is some drug
in a vehicle. A person is arrested with the grounds used. We'd use our dogs
as the grounds," he said.

Fontaine said this is the first time West Vancouver police have done a
large-scale drug search on a ferry. He said the force will likely conduct
similar searches in the future, although "on a sporadic basis, not a
regular one."

He said police did not choose Tuesday for any particular reason, only that
they were able to divert enough manpower for that day to conduct the search.

Fontaine said police had BC Ferries' permission to board the ship.

A spokeswoman for BC Ferries confirmed the ferry corporation had received
advanced notice from the police about their intent to board the ferry and
search for drugs.

"BC Ferries works and cooperates fully with any police detachment, whatever
the detachment might be," said communications coordinator Deborah Dykes.

Constable Danielle Efford, spokeswoman for the RCMP E-Division, said that
RCMP officers would not board a ferry to conduct such a search without
reasonable and probable grounds.

"We wouldn't board unless there is information that suggested that somebody
was in possession of a narcotic or controlled substance," she said.

Officers from five police agencies were involved in the search, spearheaded
by the West Vancouver police. They included two officers from New
Westminster city police, one from Vancouver city police, a Canada
Corrections officer, and one officer from the Richmond Airport RCMP. The
remaining officers came from the West Vancouver police department.

Efford said she didn't know about the actions of individual officers from
RCMP branches, and would not offer comment about the involvement of the
officer from the Richmond Airport detachment.

Dixon said that regardless of the police officers' explanations, he feels
they are wrong in their belief that they can board a ferry without looking
for a specific person.

"If the police are going to begin travelling on the ferries and running up
and down the rows of cars sniffing for drugs, that seems to me to be an
unreasonable infringement of privacy," he said.

"I don't believe that the police have reasonable and probable cause to
believe that criminal activity is being committed by specific individuals
on that ferry."