B.C. POT BOOM FORCES U.S. CUSTOMS TO CRACK DOWN AT BORDER CROSSINGS

Marijuana smuggling increase means more checks, longer delays on way to the
States.

B.C.'s multi-million-dollar marijuana industry is forcing U.S. Customs to
crack down at border crossings, leading to a rise in complaints from
America-bound Lower Mainland residents.

Even users of the PACE lanes, normally an expressway for frequent
cross-border travellers, are being made to stop as U.S. Customs agents
tighten their nets in an effort to stop the flow of U.S.-bound marijuana.

And a senior U.S. Customs official says his agents are forced to be
suspicious of everyone - pot smugglers busted recently have included people
with young children and even a couple in their 70s.

"Are we seeing an increase in narcotics? Yes," said Gene Kerven, the area
director for U.S. Customs from Blaine.

"Are we looking more than we used to? Yes we are. Are we doing more
enforcement? Yes."

Reform MP Val Meredith (South Surrey-White Rock) and Washington state
Congressman Jack Metcalfe have been meeting to discuss increased complaints
about aggressive border questioning.

Meredith's constituency assistant Donna Lucas said the MP's office has been
seeing more than the usual number of complaints lately from B.C. residents
about their treatment at the American border.

"For a couple of years, it seemed to slack off, but recently, people have
been saying they've noticed the customs officers have been more protective
and maybe a bit overzealous."

Lucas, who was in Blaine, this week applying for a PACE sticker for
Meredith, said about one in three PACE drivers were getting stopped and
questioned.

The high demand for B.C.-grown marijuana and the lure of quick profits from
selling the product south of the border is drawing a wide range of
smugglers, Kerven said.

"What's really changed is the people doing it and that's been a dramatic
impact. You can't tell any longer who's doing it. We had a 73-year-old man
and a 71-year-old woman with 24 pounds [about 10 kilograms] of marijuana in
their truck the other day."

On that same day, Kerven said a man and woman with two young children in
the car were stopped at the border and eight kilograms of marijuana were
found in their car.

At the Peace Arch crossing Friday afternoon, U.S.-bound Argun Tekant said
he's getting questioned more than he used to a year ago.

"I first noticed it last September. I go down frequently and I rarely got
stopped until last fall, but they checked my trunk and everything," said
the computer programmer.

Meredith said many B.C. residents living so close to the Washington state
forget sometimes they're entering a different country, with its own laws
for entry.

"There's a zero tolerance at the border and customs is being careful as
they have the right to be," Meredith said.

"Canada is being used as a gateway. There's high-quality marijuana being
grown here and it has, unfortunately, become one of our more popular
exports."

In December, Metcalfe asked the U.S. Attorney-General Janet Reno to
investigate allegations that American inspectors are harassing people at
the Washington-B.C. border.

American customs officers began noticing about a year ago the increased
number of people caught smuggling marijuana, Kerven said.

"The demand for B.C. marijuana is just outrageous. With the drop in the
Canadian dollar, you can trade that for U.S. funds and make a large profit.
What you buy for $3,500 a pound, you can sell for $6,000 once you go
south."

Earlier this week U.S. Ambassador Gordon Giffin accused the media of
blowing out proportion stories of harassment.

In the past month, newspapers have reported incidents in which Canadian
travellers have been bullied, threatened and banned from the U.S. by
aggressive immigration and customs officers.

Giffin said there is no pervasive policy or a pervasive experience of
hassling at the border.