B.C. POT SMUGGLING A BIG BUSINESS

LYNDEN, Wash. (AP-CP) - They toss it across the border inside
footballs. They paddle it down in kayaks.

They float it down from British Columbia in hollowed logs equipped
with global positioning satellite devices.

But the marijuana smuggler's favourite is simply toting it over on
foot, in that most Canadian of accoutrements, the hockey bag.

"They're just big, long, black bags full of dope," said Wes
Vanderheyden, head of the Border Patrol sector in the small town of
Lynden, Wash.

"It seems to be a standard for them," said Keith Miller, assistant
chief patrol agent for western Washington.

"They don't talk about it in terms of pounds; it's how many hockey
bags' worth."

U.S. border patrol officials see Vancouver as pot tolerant with an
abundance of pot-friendly businesses and a reputation for being the
"Amsterdam of North America."

British Columbia is home to a $4 billion industry that grows pot four
times more potent than the stuff from Mexico.

But while Vancouver still looks the other way where discreet,
individual pot-smoking is concerned, it clearly has had enough of the
"Amsterdam" label, and has been shutting down businesses and coffee
shops that deal overtly in cannabis.

Meanwhile, smuggling has boomed as Hells Angels, Asian and other gangs
have muscled in.

They've got the attention of Canadian law enforcement officials, who
once focused their efforts on heroin and cocaine smuggling.

Now, law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border have joined
forces in an unprecedented crackdown.

"This is not your normal dope that everybody thinks of, you know, back
in the '60s, long-haired hippies smoking it. This is not your dad's
marijuana," said Dave Keller, chief of intelligence for the U.S.
Border Patrol in western Washington.

"The smuggling we're seeing is ... clearly organized crime for
profit."

The cross-border co-operation has helped, he said, but he estimates
the Border Patrol would need 100 extra agents to smoke out all the
smuggling in western Washington.