MARIJUANA MANOEUVRES DONE BEFORE: U.S.

A Canadian Armed Forces Reserve "soldier of fortune" caught smuggling 109
kilograms of marijuana has used military trucks to transport the drug to
the U.S. more than once, an investigator said yesterday.

"This is organized," said U.S. Customs special agent Rodney Tureaud as a
multi-agency probe began in Canada and the U.S. into the use of Canadian
Armed Forces vehicles for shipping massive quantities of marijuana.

One of the seven suspects arrested on the weekend after two military
vehicles tried to cross the U.S. border at the Pacific Highway truck
crossing, has told authorities the suspects have used military vehicles in
the past for the same purpose, said Tureaud.

He said investigators are now trying to determine how many times the
suspects have "borrowed" army vehicles for cross-border drug smuggling.

"We are working with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Mounties and the
military in Canada."

The DEA is the lead investigative agency. The drug-trafficking caper came
to light when a suspicious U.S. Customs officer asked to inspect two
military trucks whose lead driver claimed they were crossing to pick up a
disabled piece of equipment in Ferndale, Wash. Authorities said no such
equipment existed. Among the seven charged with conspiracy to import
narcotics into the U.S. is 37-year-old Sgt. Sten Strom, a reservist with
Canadian Forces.

Canadian Forces National Investigations Service spokesman Capt. Bob
Lanouette said Strom is based with the 12th Service Battalion in Richmond.

How the suspect commandeered two military vehicles, an additional uniform
for an army imposter who drove a second truck, how many times it has been
done before and who authorized the removal of the vehicles remains a
mystery, said Lanouette. "We want to know if there are other people there
also (who could be involved)," he said.

He said the military is embarrassed by the episode.