POLICE GROUND CROSS-BORDER SMUGGLING RING

Two Fraser Valley men face criminal charges after being arrested in
Chilliwack in connection to what law enforcement authorities call
"one of the most brazen" schemes to smuggle drugs across the
Canada-U.S. border.

At a press conference in Bellingham yesterday, authorities from the
U.S and Canada unveiled the results-so far-from a police operation
targetting a network of smuggling organizations that used aircraft to
ferry tons of drugs across the border. The investigation, dubbed
Operation Frozen Timber, began in November 2004 and has resulted in
the seizure of 8,000 pounds of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine,
three aircraft, and $1.5 million in U.S. currency.

"I think that the equipment that was seized was certainly the tip of
the iceberg," said RCMP chief superintendent Bud Mercer.

"These organized criminal groups were motivated by one thing: greed,"
said John McKay, United States Attorney for the Western District of
Washington. "With Operation Frozen Timber, we not only cut into their
profits with countless seizures of drugs and money, we demonstrated
that there is a high price to pay. Drug ring leader Robert Kesling
now knows that high price-he is doing 17 years in federal prison."

The B.C. based smuggling organizations used helicopters and
fixed-wing aircraft to transport drug loads to pre-arranged drop
sites in the U.S. They smuggled marijuana into the United States, and
cocaine into Canada, police say.

During the course of the police operation, law enforcement officials
intercepted more than 17 drug loads, including one shipment in
February 2005 involving five suitcases packed with 149 kilograms of
cocaine. That constituted the largest single cocaine seizure in
Washington state lsat year.

So far, the investigation has resulted in more than 40 arrests of
both Americans and Canadians in the U.S.

The first charges in Canadian courts came recently, after the May
collaring of an Agassiz and a Chilliwack man. (RCMP have also made
four other arrests, but they haven't resulted in charges to date).

Daryl Desjardins, 45, of Agassiz, and Dustin Haugen, 24, of
Chilliwack, were arrested in Chilliwack on May 9 after returning to
Canada following an alleged drug drop in the United States, said RCMP
Superintendent Bill Ard.

On that day, police say they tracked a Bell Jet Ranger owned by
Desjardins to a landing site in a state wildlife area in Okanogan
County, located in north central Washington. After watching the cargo
being transferred to a waiting pick up truck, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agents and other officers stopped the vehicle and
recovered 329 pounds of marijuana. Two other men were arrested.

Desjardins, described by RCMP as a transporter, and Haugen are next
expected to appear in court today. They face charges of import/export
of a controlled substance, trafficking in a controlled substance, and
possession of firearms contrary to order.

Haugen's name has also popped up elsewhere in the investigation.
Crown counsel is currently trying to decide if Haugen will face
charges in connection with the March 6, 2005 helicopter crash on 58th
Avenue in Abbotsford that killed his live-in girlfriend, 22-year-old
Christina Alexander. Police believe the helicopter involved to be
linked to the drug smuggling organizations.

They also believe the helicopter destroyed in a crash on September
26, 2005 was also linked to the drug smuggling organizations
targetted in Operation Frozen Timber. In that crash, which occurred
along mountainous Othello Road in Hope, Abbotsford residents Ove
Jensen, 41, and Richard Long, 55, were killed.

In an obituary, Long is described as a pilot, but police say a number
of unlicensed pilots were identified in the investigation.