N.B. BUST NETS $40M IN COCAINE

Border Patrol Seizes 276 Kg Of Cocaine At Port Of Saint John

It's a white Christmas for the Canada Border Services Agency in New
Brunswick, and that's good news for everyone who wants to see dangerous and
illegal drugs off Canada's streets.

The agency announced yesterday that its officers found and seized about 276
kilograms (607 pounds) of cocaine at the Port of Saint John on Dec. 11
while searching a marine container that originated in Guyana.

Don Collins, the CBSA's district director for Southern New Brunswick and
Prince Edward Island, said yesterday the delay in reporting the seizure was
to give time to its law enforcement partners to further their investigations.

The Canadian Border Service Agency had worked jointly with the Saint John
City Police, the RCMP and the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario on
the investigation over the past several months.

Further investigation by the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario has
led to one arrest.

Collins said the shipment had been targeted for examination as part of
intelligence gathering and information sharing among law enforcement agencies.

The shipment came into Saint John inside a container aboard a ship that
makes regular stops at the port. Collins said there was no reason to
suspect the shipping line was in any way involved

The contents of the container, "were declared to us as groceries and
foodstuffs," said Collins.

Indeed, inside the shipping container were 1,200 boxes of hot sauce. In 551
of those boxes however, the cardboard dividers that keep the bottles from
breaking against each other had some special shock absorption added,
cocaine sandwiched between the layers of cardboard fibre. Each box was a
triple decker and the three dividers added up to about a half a kilo (one
pound) of cocaine per box.

The agency used a dog and X-ray equipment to determine where the cocaine
was hidden.

Collins said though this particular shipment was targeted by border agents,
the agency detects contraband through numerous means on a regular basis.
And should any criminals think sneaking illegal drugs into the country
through a smaller port is the way to go, he also noted, "we are as well
equipped in Saint John as any other port."

That equipment includes a truck that can X-ray an entire container at once.

Since January 2008, CBSA marine examinations in the Atlantic Region have
yielded over 622 kilograms of illegal drugs, valued at over $57 million.

The drugs in this latest incident have an estimated street value of $40
million, and represent the largest single drug seizure by the CBSA in New
Brunswick. Previous large hauls by the agency include 95 kilograms of
cocaine found at the Port of Saint John in 1995 and 50 kilograms of cocaine
attached to the hull of a ship at the Port of Belledune in 2005.