BORDER COPS UNVEIL $19M DRUG SEIZURE

Discovered Last Summer, It Was Kept Under Wraps
Until Bust Could Be Made

CRIME - Within days of revealing that border officers foiled a major
shipment of hashish being smuggled into Halifax aboard a container
ship last summer, another major drug bust-one of four this year - was
in the works.

"It's been a very successful few months," said Alonzo MacNeil, chief
of marine operations for the Canada Border Services Agency.

Last July 21, the CBSA called a news conference to trumpet their
latest success: The discovery of 4,000 one-kilogram packets of hash
hidden inside bales of cotton from Pakistan and headed to Toronto.

Concealed in pumpkins and yams

Four days later, border officers uncovered another major shipment, 626
kilograms of hashish, hash oil and marijuana concealed in a shipment
of pumpkins, yams and sweet potatoes from Jamaica.

The shipment is estimated to be worth $19 million.

The drugs were found wrapped in plastic and stashed under a false
floor in the bottom of a shipping container.

Details about the discovery weren't made public until yesterday
because of the ongoing investigation. The drugs were removed and the
container allowed to continue to its final destination.

Toronto police arrested two Ontario men after officers traced the
shipment through to its final destination. Both men face trafficking
and drug importation charges.

"When the last arrest was made, the police told us to go ahead and
release the information," said MacNeil.

Uncovered 'anomalies'

The shipping container was selected for inspection based on its port
of origin. It was unloaded in Halifax and run through a gamma-ray
scanner, a type of x-ray machine, which uncovered "anomalies" in the
floor of the container. That prompted a more detailed search of the
container.

Officers unloaded the canned food, fresh produce and crackers then
drilled through the floor. The drill brought up traces of hashish
oil.Officers then peeled back the container floor, and a second false
floor to find the packages of drugs. The search uncovered 430 kilos of
hashish oil, 196 kilos of marijuana and 550 grams of hash.

Canada Border Service Agency officers estimate that 5,658 kilograms of
illegal drugs worth $127 million have been seized entering Halifax
this year. Some of the earlier busts found drugs concealed in cheap
furniture, wooden chessboards and large cotton bales.