U.S. CUSTOMS BLITZES BORDER IN DRUG HUNT

BLAINE, Whatcom County - There was little reason to notice an elderly
Canadian couple crossing the border into Lynden last month.

But when their car was pulled over by U.S. Customs workers as part of a
drug-enforcement "block blitz," 20 pounds of high-grade Canadian-grown
marijuana was found in their trunk.

Officials weren't entirely surprised. Since U.S. Customs initiated its
tough new border emphasis in December, they've made dozens of marijuana
busts - many from unlikely suspects like the elderly couple.

Along with the busts have come longer lines of cars at the border - waits
that on weekends can stretch for two hours at the Peace Arch crossing in
Blaine.

Even on a weekday morning this week, the line was 45 minutes long, with
only two of the station's seven lanes open.

The new drug policy "contributes to slower traffic, absolutely," said
Eugene Kerven, Customs port director, who also blamed the traffic slowdowns
on a shortage of Customs workers. "We just don't have the bodies to open
lanes; that's just the way it is," he said.

He said the new drug emphasis, called the Customs' "brass ring" policy,
stems from the fact that narcotics enforcement has become the federal
agency's top priority.

Since January, there have been 29 arrests at the border, said Sgt. Steve
DeFries, with the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force, which is run through
the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.

DeFries said that when he took over the drug task force in 1994 he rarely
got a referral from Customs. "Now it's not unusual to get three to five a
week," he said. "Luckily for us most of the (marijuana) is destined for
Southern California."

What's triggering the increase, say police and U.S. Customs officials, is
the popularity of B.C.-grown marijuana, which has a high level of THC, the
active ingredient in marijuana.

DeFries said a pound of the marijuana can be purchased in Canada for as
little as $1,500 in U.S. funds, but can sell for $3,500 in Seattle and
$6,000 by the time it gets to Southern California.

"The money goes north, the marijuana goes south," DeFries said. "It used to
be a half-pound was a lot of marijuana. Now 50 to 100 pounds is not
unusual."

To combat drug trafficking, Customs is using more drug-sniffing dogs, is
pulling more cars over for inspections, and is staging the blitzes in which
every car - for a short period of time - is pulled over.

Where once officials could spot a suspicious car fairly easily, they say
that's no longer the case.

Among others arrested recently was a couple with young children in the back
seat of their car, a duffel bag full of marijuana between them.

"I started in the late 1970s," said Jay Brandt, a Customs official at the
Blaine truck crossing. "We knew who we were looking for in narcotics
enforcement. We can't do it any more."

He also said people are not even trying to hide the contraband, assuming
they'll pass through the border unchecked.

Brandt said that's one reason why the lines are so slow - workers have to
take time to inspect the cars they pull over.

"We have to dedicate more resources to the secondary inspection process,"
he said, "but I hesitate to say we're catching it all." He said less than 2
percent of the 10,000 cars that pass through the Peace Arch each day are
pulled over.

Drivers who are apprehended risk having their cars seized. To get around
that, they often drive rented or leased cars, DeFries said.

"They're not stupid," DeFries said. "They know if they drive their fancy
Porsche, they'll lose it, so they don't drive it. They drive a throw-away
car. It's the price of doing business; they lose the junker."

Those arrested are generally people hired to bring drugs across the border,
he said.

In the case of the elderly couple, he said, a police report showed they
planned to park their car at a shopping center in Bellingham and that when
they returned to it an hour later the marijuana would be gone.

He said one problem in slowing the drug traffic is that the penalty is so
small. "The organization that controls marijuana growing knows the law only
allows 90 days for a marijuana possession case," DeFries said. "It's just
the cost of doing business. Their couriers don't mean anything, they're
expendible."

Certainly it's not just the drug inspections that are slowing traffic.

While the depressed Canadian dollar almost stopped southbound border
traffic from Canadians, that's picked up in recent weeks, Customs officials
say.

With gas selling for 96 cents a gallon in Blaine, some cross just to fill
their tanks.

Lew Moore, aide to U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf, who represents the border
community in Whatcom County, said he's been meeting with B.C. officials
recently to discuss the border problems. In fact, at a meeting last week
the B.C. official was late - held up at the border.

Canadian officials say they aren't feeling the same border squeeze because
they aren't finding marijuana being smuggled north. But officials say they
are picking up significant seizures of cocaine heading north.

In December, seven drug users died in the Vancouver area after ingesting
unusually potent cocaine brought in from the U.S.

As for the long lines on the southbound border, little relief is expected
any time soon. But officials do offer tips:

- -- Take a different crossing from Canada, where lines invariably are
shorter. They include the truck crossing at Blaine, the crossing at Lynden
or the crossing at Sumas, all in Whatcom County.

- -- Timing is the key. Generally, the worst traffic is between 11 a.m. and 4
p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. This week was particularly
bad because of spring vacations in B.C.

- -- Motorists who cross the border frequently can apply for a $25 PACE
sticker, which allows them to use a special lane. But getting a sticker
requires a background check and can take up to six months for processing.

Bob Burden, a tourist from England, was waiting in a long line Tuesday,
anxious about getting to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in time to
catch his plane home. "I'd gladly pay $25 to get there now," he said.

Susan Gilmore's phone message number is 206-464-2054. Her e-mail
address is: sugi-new@seatimes.com