MARIJUANA SMUGGLERS TAKE TO SEA

Pot smugglers are using boats to ship high-grade B.C. marijuana, to avoid
being snared at tougher land checkpoints instituted recently along the
U.S.-Canada border, police believe.

Police say 22.7 kilograms of B.C. marijuana, worth $300,000 US at the street
level, was seized at a Bellingham, Wash., marina last week.

A U.S. Border Patrol official said smugglers know the coastal sea route is
not as heavily patrolled.

Since a recent designation of the Interstate 5 corridor as a high
trafficking area, U.S. border agents have increased checks of vehicles going
through land crossings. One measure was to introduce more drug-sniffing dogs
at the Pacific crossing.

The security checks have been even more intense in recent weeks because of
the threat of terrorism.

Those in lineups to cross the border Labour Day were asked to open their
cars' trunks and many car undercarriages were inspected with long-handled
mirrors.

Bellingham police Lt. Dac Jamison said the seizure of two garbage bags full
of B.C.-grown marijuana was made Friday when a tip was received that a boat
was off-loading pot.

Jamison said police swooped down on the marina and cornered a car being
driven by Seattle-area student Timothy Tran. He offered no resistance and
told police he had been paid $1,000 to make the pickup.

By the time the coast guard was called in, the Canadian motorized boat had
taken off.

Jamison, a veteran drug cop with Bellingham police, said he believes the
marina seizure is "the tip of the iceberg," adding: "I am sure that there
are boats loading up in Vancouver and trans-shipping to King county" (in the
Seattle area).

He said authorities generally catch only 10 per cent of drugs shipped into
the U.S.

B.C. marijuana, with its high potency, has became a major menace to the
United States.

Marijuana is sold wholesale in B.C. at about $1,800 US per pound ($4,000 a
kilo), said Jamison. At the street level in Los Angeles, the pot is sold at
about $6,000 per pound.

Huge profits have prompted students, cyclists and even tourists to act as
"mules" on the pot trail leading from B.C. to the U.S., said Jamison.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst