ACCUSED IN MARIJUANA-SMUGGLING BID PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN SEATTLE

The Five Canadians And Two Americans Face Charges After Military Vehicles
Were Found To Contain Marijuana.

SEATTLE -- Five Canadians and two Americans charged with attempting to
smuggle marijuana into Washington state in military vehicles have pleaded
not guilty to a total of 16 charges.

The six men and one woman will be held in custody at a federal detention
centre in Seattle until their trial Oct. 23.

In U.S. District Court on Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hugh Berry
referred to the smuggling scheme as "well-planned, well-orchestrated and
well-financed."

Outside court, he told reporters that, based on the use of military
vehicles and check points at a mall and hotel, the operation did not appear
to be a one-shot deal.

"Clearly you had meeting points, you had hotels . . . it seems
sophisticated. It wasn't just someone jumping across a ditch with a
knapsack," he said.

Berry said he did not know yet if Canadian military vehicles were ever used
before to smuggle drugs across the B.C.-Washington border.

The seven accused, who were led into court in handcuffs and blue
prison-issue clothing, were originally charged with conspiracy to import
and distribute marijuana, but additional charges were sworn Thursday.

Sten Strom, 36, and Brent Rusnak, 32, both of Vancouver, also face charges
of importation of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to
distribute.

Robert Laurin, 34, of Vancouver, faces a charge of possession of marijuana
with intent to distribute. Charges of attempted possession of marijuana
with intent to distribute face Roger Goshinmon (also known as Yoshi
Yamada), 54, of Surrey, Roderick Brennan, 52, of Vancouver, Erin Harms, 30,
of California, and Wesley Antholz, 42, an American citizen who has lived in
Vancouver for the past three years.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a
$1-million U.S. fine.

All seven entered not guilty pleas, and bail was denied outright for six of
the accused. Judge Monica Benton ruled Brennan, whose involvement in the
case was described as minimal, should be released to a half-way house in
Seattle when a bed comes available in about a month. Berry said he will
appeal that ruling.

An affidavit filed by Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Frank
Del Re alleges that Strom, a part-time reservist with a battalion in
Richmond, showed his military identification when he was stopped at the
Blaine border crossing Saturday while driving a large, camouflage-green
military tow truck.

The document says Rusnak, a civilian who was driving a second army vehicle,
was asked for his military identification, but told Del Re he left it at
home. Rusnak was wearing a Canadian military uniform inscribed with the
last name Kranenburg, which was supplied to him by Strom, the affidavit said.

During a secondary inspection of the two military vehicles, a drug dog
indicated something suspicious was inside one of the trucks after sniffing
the rear door. Agents then found five nylon bags containing 109 kilograms
of marijuana, the document says.

Strom and Rusnak were arrested, and Strom told the agents he was supposed
to take the vehicles to the Peace Portal Outlet Mall south of Blaine, where
he was to contact "Rob" via a walkie-talkie, the affidavit says.

Strom said he was to be paid $16,000 US for the shipment, and that he was
going to pay Rusnak $7,500 Cdn for the trip, Del Re wrote.

Del Re and another special agent put on the military uniforms, and drove
the vehicles to the outlet mall where Laurin was waiting. After loading the
pot into Laurin's van, he was arrested, the affidavit says.

Del Re then answered Laurin's cell phone when it rang, and a man, later
identified as Goshinmon, said he was waiting at the Courtyard by Marriott
hotel in Seattle.

Goshinmon, Brennan, Antholz and Harms were arrested in the underground
parking lot of the hotel.

Hotel management told agents that rooms were booked by either Goshinmon,
Harms or Antholz on seven occasions between March and June. Agents are now
investigating whether the suspects are linked to other marijuana smuggling
operations.

In court, Berry said Strom, a broad-shouldered man with red hair and
moustache who works as a delivery driver for Coca-Cola, should be denied
bail because it is alleged that he brought the marijuana across the border
in a military vehicle.

Strom's lawyer told the court it is possible more charges are facing Strom
in Canada, as a result of a military investigation into how the army trucks
were taken out of the locked, fenced-in compound in Richmond.

Berry said Rusnak, a preppy-looking man with short dark hair, should be
denied bail because of "subterfuge at best, or stolen military vehicles
involved in this incident."

He said Rusnak is a delivery man for Coca-Cola, but added it is unclear how
often he works or how long he has lived at his address.

But Rusnak's lawyer, Michael Kolker, said his client owns a home in Pitt
Meadows, has worked for Coca-Cola for seven years and has a stable life in
the Lower Mainland. He said his criminal record consists of one driving
while impaired conviction in Washington state, and nothing in Canada.

However, Benton would not release Rusnak because the U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service has put a retainer on him, indicating it fears the
Canadian citizen is a flight risk.

Berry said Goshinmon, who gave the alias Yamada to agents when he was
arrested, is the only Canadian defendant with a history of drug offences.
He has three convictions in Canada, the most recent in 1998 when a house
full of marijuana plants in Maple Ridge burned down, Berry said.

Goshinmon is also being investigated by U.S. authorities for possible
involvement in marijuana smuggled to Washington state in February by boat,
Berry told the court.

Berry argued Laurin should not receive bail, alleging his role was "well
integrated" in the smuggling scheme.

Berry said that Brennan, an older, balding man with grey in his beard, also
has no criminal record and his involvement in the case appears to be
limited to sharing a hotel room with Goshinmon and opening a garage door
during the sting.

Berry called Antholz "a bit of a drifter," who was arrested with a map with
several hotels circled -- a map identical to the one allegedly carried by
Laurin.

But his lawyer Catherine Chaney said Antholz is an American citizen who has
lived in Vancouver for three years and owns a company there. He used to
live in Denver, where he owned a now-bankrupt computer business, and has
"an extremely minimal" criminal history, she said.

Court heard that Harms has an addiction to marijuana, cocaine and heroin,
and was also denied bail.

Jeffrey Steinborn, the lawyer for Harms, complained outside court that the
U.S. justice system is unduly harsh on marijuana-related offences. He
praised Canadian courts for being more lenient, and called smoking
marijuana "a victimless crime."

Based on the amount of marijuana alleged to have been found in the military
trucks, Steinborn said the maximum the defendants without criminal records
could receive, if convicted, is five years.