DOCUMENTS BARE DRUG USE BY CUSTOMS OFFICERS

One Was Found In A Vancouver Crack House

Canada Customs, the government agency responsible for keeping illegal drugs
out of the country, has had several problems with drug use among its own
staff in B.C. -- including one customs officer who was found in a crack
house during a drug raid in Vancouver.

The incidents, detailed in Canada Customs investigation reports obtained by
The Sun under the Access to Information Act, range from minor to serious,
and include:

- - A customs staffer who baked marijuana-laced cookies for a staff meeting.

- - Customs officers who were caught smoking pot while attending a staff retreat.

- - One officer who was found in a crack house during a police raid.

- - A customs officer who was spotted with a prostitute outside a drug house
under police surveillance.

The names of the staff members involved in the incidents, all from B.C.,
were deleted from the documents released to The Sun and Canada Customs
refused to comment this week on any disciplinary action taken against them.

However, Customs spokeswoman Colette Gentes-Hawn said any evidence the
agency receives about its staff members engaging in criminal behaviour is
referred to police.

In February 2000, the internal affairs branch of Canada Customs launched an
internal investigation after Vancouver police notified them they had found
one of their officers in a crack house during a routine drug raid.

Police told customs that, after raiding the residence, they searched the
occupants -- most of them well-known drug users.

On one man, police found a Canada Customs badge indicating the man worked
at the Vancouver airport.

"The suspect then became quite nervous and stated he was only there to help
his friend who had a drug problem," the report states. "The police
constable found this hard to believe as the suspect ... knew all the
occupants of the residence [and] was referred to by his first name by the
other occupants. Also, the other occupants were very comfortable with the
suspect being there."

Because he was not carrying any drugs, police released the man -- who then
gave one of the women in the house, a known prostitute, a ride home.

In interviews with internal affairs, the customs officer in question
insisted he didn't know the house he was in was a crack house. But, after
viewing police photos of the property, investigators found that hard to
believe.

"There is no mistaking the residence for being involved in illegal
activities," the investigators concluded. "One does not have to be
professionally trained to recognize this."

The officer denied he had a drug problem, though he admitted he had tried
cocaine several years ago.

"A friend of mine was on coke so I tried [it] a few times," the officer
states in a transcript of the interview. "It happened in 1994 when I was
working at the airport ... I was drinking at the time, so I decided to try
it. What's the big deal anyways?"

The investigators' report concluded the officer was in violation of both
the customs code of conduct and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

In a similar incident in the spring of 1998, Vancouver police had a known
drug house under surveillance when a car pulled up in front.

The car's female passenger, whom police identified as a prostitute, got out
of the car, went up to the house, and then returned to the car.

As the car started to drive off, police stopped it and began questioning
the driver.

"The driver stated he had lost his wallet and ID but was able to identify
himself ... by producing his Revenue Canada identification and showing his
customs badge ... The driver was in full customs uniform at the time of the
stop."

The officer had been drinking, according to police, though not enough to be
charged with driving while impaired.

Customs investigated the incident and concluded the officer was in
violation of the agency's code of conduct, as well as the Criminal Code.

What disciplinary action was taken against the officer is not contained in
the documents.

But Barbara Fulton, then-head of regional operations for the Pacific
Region, wrote an angry memo to the head of Customs Services, Blake Delgaty,
in August 1998 saying she felt the case had not been dealt with seriously
enough.

"I find this sort of behaviour by one of our employees to be an extremely
serious breach of our code of conduct and am very concerned that we have an
employee engaging in extracurricular activities which could bring notable
discredit to Revenue Canada," Fulton wrote.

"The matter was not treated with the proper resolve that it deserved," she
wrote. "I am particularly worried with what appears to be a casual approach
by management within your organization ... in regards to this incident."

Canada Customs would not comment on what, if any, additional disciplinary
action was taken against the staff member involved.

The documents released to The Sun indicate Canada Customs has also had to
deal in recent years with less serious drug problems with its B.C. staff.

Customs investigators launched an investigation in November 1999 after a
customs staffer took marijuana-laced cookies to a staff meeting.

"Jokes were made about the content of the cookies as they appeared to be
improperly baked," one staff member told investigators.

About a half hour after the meeting, the staff member said, "I began to
feel what I can only describe as a drunken sensation wherein I felt
somewhat disoriented and unable to concentrate effectively ... [the]
sensations persisted for about two hours."

Confronted about the cookies, the staff member who took them to the meeting
originally said he had bought them at a grocery store but later conceded he
had baked the cookies himself with small amounts of marijuana.

"He said it was just a joke," the report states.

The report indicates Canada Customs notified the RCMP of the incident, but
it does not say what disciplinary action, if any, was taken against the
staff member.

Another report obtained by The Sun indicates that customs also investigated
an incident in 1998 in which five Canada Customs staff members smoked
marijuana in their hotel room during a staff retreat.