CUSTOMS AGENTS FIGHTING TO STAY AHEAD OF DRUG RUNNERS

Officers Face Record Number Of Drug-swallowing Smugglers

Customs officers at the Ottawa airport are on high alert for
drug-swallowing smugglers following a record number of seizures involving
this dangerous method of drug running.

Between last May and September, customs inspectors made three major busts
involving drug swallowers. In total, about four kilograms of cocaine were
seized, and five people were arrested.

"It was a record period," says Pierre Marquis, spokesman for the Canada
Customs and Revenue Agency in Ottawa.

In one incident, a Toronto resident was caught with 700 grams of swallowed
cocaine, wrapped in a latex glove. Another 300 grams of the drug were
hidden in a suitcase. The man had arrived from Jamaica on a connecting
flight from the United States.

Donald James MacGillivray, 47, was charged with importing cocaine, and
possession for the purpose of trafficking.

The rise in swallowers has made customs officer Don Murray more vigilant.

Last October, Mr. Murray was on duty with Gunner, his drug-sniffing
Labrador retriever, when the pair was called to investigate a flight from
the U.S. with a number of passengers from the Caribbean. A subsequent
search turned up a drug swallower. "People think dogs can't detect
swallowers, but this one can," says Mr. Murray.

Across the country, customs and the RCMP arrest several hundred drug
swallowers at airports every year. About 120 come from Toronto's Pearson
Airport. Police at Pearson have started taking urine samples of travellers
they suspect are smuggling drugs. Those singled out are given the option of
a urine test or detention until they have a bowel movement.

The program is the first of its kind at any North American airport.