CANADIANS, AMERICANS, MAY GET 20-YEAR TERM AFTER DRUGS FOUND IN ARMY TRUCK

VANCOUVER (CP) - A spokesman with the Canadian army reserves in British
Columbia is baffled at how a part-time soldier got access to army vehicles
used to transport potent marijuana to the United States. Dan Thomas said
Tuesday only a few people have keys to the vehicles and he's not sure
whether the reserve soldier charged in the case was one of those people.

"The vehicle has to be properly dispatched," Thomas said. "You can't just
walk in there and take one of our trucks for a joy ride."

Sgt. Sten Strom, of the 12 Vancouver Service Battalion in Richmond, B.C.,
was arrested during the weekend along with fellow Canadians Roderick
Brennan, Brent Rusnak, Yoshi Yamada and Robert Laurin.

U.S. citizens Wesley Antholz and Erin Harmes face the same charges.

They were charged Monday in a Washington court with conspiracy to import and
distribute marijuana.

Strom, 36, and Rusnak, 32 were wearing Canadian army uniforms when they were
apprehended after more than 100 kilograms of so-called B.C. Bud were found
in one of the military vehicles. Rusnak is a civilian.

Thomas said the Richmond battalion is a reserve unit where part-time
soldiers are responsible for supporting other units in the field with
transporting and maintaining vehicles.

He said soldiers are usually on weekend courses during the summer.

"I can't account for what Sgt. Strom should have been doing on Saturday
night," Thomas said.

"It's a bit of a mystery to me right now how this all came to pass."

He would not disclose any other information about Strom and said the
Canadian Forces National Investigative Service is investigating.

Harold Malkin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said the five
Canadians - including the soldier - and the two Americans arrested will be
tried in U.S. Federal Court.

If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison. The penalty for the
offence in Canada is similar.

A detention hearing to determine whether the men can be held without bail is
expected Thursday. They will then be arraigned to enter their pleas before a
trial date is set, Malkin said.

"The United States considers any importation of illegal narcotics into this
country a serious problem" regardless of the country of origin, Malkin said.

Strom, 36, and Rusnak, 32, were arrested at the Blaine, Wash., border
crossing Saturday at about 7:15 p.m., said Charles McLeod of U.S. Customs.

Officials also detained two Canadian military trucks the men arrived in,
McLeod said.

One of the drivers told U.S. Customs inspectors they were on their way to
pick up a broken-down military vehicle in Ferndale, Wash.

McLeod said inspectors found the potent marijuana in one of the trucks. It
is the largest drug seizure at the Blaine border crossing, he said.

He wouldn't say why border officials became suspicious and searched the
vehicles.

After Strom and Rusnak were apprehended, customs agents and officers from
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration put on the Canadian uniforms.

They drove the truck with the marijuana to a strip mall in Blaine, Wash.,
where the drug was scheduled to be received by a third man, said Rodney
Tureaud of the U.S. Customs Office of Investigations.

Laurin, 34, was arrested after the marijuana was unloaded into a rented
minivan.

After the rented minivan was seized, a customs agent answered a cell phone
belonging to Laurin.

The caller asked the investigator about the delay in the marijuana delivery
and asked that it be taken to a Seattle hotel.

The investigators went to the hotel and arrested Yamada, 53, and Brennan,
52.

Antholz, 41, of Colorado and Harms, 26, of California, were also arrested
there.

Besides Strom, no home towns for the Canadians have been released.

McLeod said U.S. Customs inspectors have been arresting an increasing number
of Canadians trying to smuggle marijuana across the border.

Officials began noticing the problem in 1996, and in the last year, more
arrests have been made after larger amounts of the high quality B.C. Bud
were found.

McLeod said inspectors have arrested people from all walks of life including
a 70-year-old woman in a walker who was trying to smuggle marijuana into the
United States with her 73-year-old husband.

"We've had people with babes in arms and in the diaper bag was three to five
pounds" of marijuana, McLeod said.

People smuggling marijuana into the United States can make up to $500 US per
kilogram in profit in the Seattle area, he said.