SENIORS USED AS DRUG MULES

Foreign druglords are using senior citizens as drug couriers, the RCMP
said after a second elderly person was arrested for smuggling in a
month.

A 75-year-old Spanish man arriving from Madrid was arrested Thursday
by the Mounties and Canada Customs at Pearson airport following an
attempt to smuggle 6.3 kilos of raw opium, worth $360,000, into the
country.

Customs spokesman Duncan Smith said a man, who was visiting relatives
in Toronto, arrived Wednesday but his luggage was lost. The bag was
located and checked by officers before it could be returned to the man
the next day.

"The bag was x-rayed and found to contain a dark gummy substance
suspected of being opium," he said.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Bill Matheson said the man was notified his bag had
arrived and was arrested when he came to collect it.

"It's very rare that we get raw opium here," Matheson said. "He may
have gone through if his bag wasn't lost."

The Mounties said a 79-year-old great-grandmother, the oldest accused
smuggler, was nabbed at Pearson in December allegedly carrying 450
grams of marijuana, worth about $9,000, from Jamaica.

"We believe foreign drug traffickers are using the elderly to smuggle
drugs," Matheson said. "They know the elderly can be easily duped."

He said in most cases the elderly don't know what they're carrying or
the penalties involved.

The Mounties are warning seniors travelling south this winter to keep
an eye on their bags and be wary of people offering them money to
deliver a package.

Tomas Garcia Larriu, 75, has been charged with importing a controlled
substance. If convicted, he faces deportation from Canada. He has a
bail hearing Friday.