POT SMUGGLING CLOGS COURTS IN BORDER REGION

James Dennis had company a week ago when he pulled his 28-foot
Bayliner into a Port Townsend marina.

Agents from the U.S. Customs Service found 160 pounds of marijuana
stored in six bags under the cabin deck, according to court documents.

The potent "B.C. Bud" marijuana, grown across the border from
Washington, is worth more than $500,000 in Seattle, but would fetch
more than $1 million in Los Angeles and an even higher price on the
streets of New York.

Yet the most remarkable aspect so far in the criminal case is that it
is unremarkable. It's another drug-smuggling case in a region where
courts are groaning under the strain of marijuana prosecutions.

The Dennis case -- the fruit of a task force of state and federal law
enforcement agencies -- underscores the escalating drug war north of
Seattle, now being waged on land, air and sea.

This week, a federal grand jury indicted Dennis, a 64-year-old Port
Angeles man, on drug charges.

Earlier this month, customs agents searched a boat that arrived from
Canada at Cap Sante Marina near Anacortes and found 130 pounds of B.C.
Bud. Robert Barnes of Kirkland faces federal charges in connection
with the drug seizure.

In February, two large duffle bags were taken off a boat that had
arrived from Canada at Birch Bay near Blaine, Wash. A man drove the
bags -- believed to be filled with marijuana -- to different locations
in Oregon, picking up packages that contained cash, according to court
documents.

Federal agents ultimately arrested three men and seized more than
$185,000 in cash. They face several charges, including violating U.S.
laws that require large cash transfers across the border to be reported.

The cases haven't fallen just on federal courts.

About 10 percent of the adult felony cases that Whatcom County
prosecutes every year involve the border and drugs, mostly marijuana,
said prosecutor David McEachran.

The drug cases are "just killing" the rural county's court system,
said N.F. Jackson, county clerk and Superior Court
administrator.

Drug prosecutions stemming from border stops in Whatcom County jumped
from 103 in 1997 to 188 in 1998, he said, and the trend is continuing.

Jackson said the drug cases are slowing other prosecutions and
delaying civil suits.

There's enough action on the northern front that federal money pays
the salary of a prosecutor and secretary in McEachran's office.

Authorities say the number of drug convictions would soar if more
state and federal agents were assigned to the border.

"My impression is how many we catch depends on how many agents we have
out there," said Doug Whalley, a federal prosecutor in Seattle.

The Customs Service is seeking additional resources, both agents and
aircraft, to watch for smugglers.

The agency is pitted against a high-potency, low-risk crop grown in
British Columbia, then sold for top dollar.

This month, Time magazine declared B.C. Bud "the world's best pot."
Its THC content -- the active ingredient -- is 30 percent, compared
with as little as 5 percent with cheaper marijuana harvested elsewhere.

Canadian marijuana growers have been arrested and prosecuted, but they
face little punishment. Last week, a Vancouver judge made headlines
from Winnipeg to Hong Kong by sending a grower to prison for two
years. That was eight times the sentence prosecutors sought.

Washington often is just a transit point, law enforcement officials
said. Those who bring the marijuana over the border can make thousands
of dollars per shipment.

On the Olympic Peninsula, police and prosecutors are more concerned
with methamphetamines than marijuana. But after last week, they may
have to worry more about pot.

A drug task force on the peninsula got a tip earlier in the month from
the Coast Guard about possible marijuana smuggling from Canada, said
Rick Porter, a Clallam County senior deputy prosecutor.

Law enforcement agencies focused on Dennis and his Bayliner early in
the morning on March 22, according to court documents. The Coast Guard
watched Dennis' boat, the Dolphin, leave the Port Townsend boat basin
that morning, according to court documents.

A detective with the Washington State Patrol picked up the
surveillance later in a Civil Air Patrol plane. A Border Patrol plane
took over in Canada until the Dolphin was below controlled air space
near Vancouver International Airport.

On March 24, the Dolphin was spotted making its way back to Port
Townsend. Customs agents reported finding the marijuana on board later
that morning.

Porter said that nothing about Dennis indicates he led a lavish
lifestyle. He had extensive bills from recent medical problems, and
told federal authorities he lives on Social Security. He is poor
enough to qualify for a court-appointed attorney.

P-I reporter Scott Sunde can be reached at 206-448-8331 or
scottsunde@seattle-pi.com