ABDUL-JABBAR CAUGHT CARRYING MARIJUANA AT TORONTO AIRPORT

Former UCLA and Laker center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surrendered a small amount
of marijuana to U.S. Customs officials at

Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Sunday and paid a $500 civil
fine, a Customs Service spokesman said Friday. Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's
career scoring leader, told customs officers that he has migraines and
"doctors recommended him using this," said Pat Jones, a customs spokesman
in Washington.

The customs spokesman said the seizure was handled as an administrative
rather than a criminal matter and that there was no arrest. Canadian
police, however, said Abdul-Jabbar had been arrested.

Regional Police Inspector David Price, contacted Friday by The Canadian
Press, confirmed a Toronto Sun report that Abdul-Jabbar was arrested but
not charged.

The Sun said the marijuana amounted to six grams. It was found as
Abdul-Jabbar was about to fly from Toronto to Los Angeles. The U.S. Customs
Service has a "pre-clearance" operation at some Canadian airports.

"We have these drug-sniffing dogs and one of them smelled something on
Kareem," Jones said. "He talked to one of our inspectors and was very
cooperative and he volunteered that he had a minuscule amount of marijuana
on him."

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