BRANDY ON SHIP SPIKED WITH COKE

Customs officers opened a six-metre ship container full of brandy and found
two oversized duffel bags loaded with cocaine at the Fairview Cove
container pier in Halifax last Friday.

Canada Customs and Revenue Agency officers seized 73 kilograms, and
estimate its street value at $9.9 million.

"We opened the door and there it was; it wasn't hard," said custom's marine
operations chief Alonzo MacNeil, who announced the seizure yesterday.

"The key was finding the right one to open."

MacNeil said the drug shipment in a Hapag Lloyd container was aimed for
"very easy access anywhere."

"They weren't really interested in hiding it too well. As soon as you
opened up the back doors it was right there. It was designed for someone to
grab it quickly. It would be a two-minute job."

Although customs officers often use high-tech detection equipment and
drug-sniffing dogs, this container was suspect because of its origin.

"Mostly we targeted it because it was from Panama," MacNeil said.

"We (search) a high percentage -- if not all -- from that area."

This is the third illegal-drug seizure at the port of Halifax in recent months.

Since August 2001, customs searches at the port have yielded more than
3,000 kilograms of illegal drugs worth almost $36 million.

Last week's grab was a bonus.

"Nine million dollars' worth of drugs is a fair amount," he said.

Customs officers handed the case over to Mounties, but no charges have been
laid.

Officials suspect the brandy was stolen, too, but aren't sure if the
contents of the container belonged to one organization or two separate
groups who were sharing the smuggling costs.