AKWESASNE BAND SUPPORTS TOUGHER U.S. DRUG RULES

Proposed Law Seeks To Crack Down On Cross Border Smuggling On Reserves

The band council of a Mohawk reserve straddling the Canada-U.S.
border is backing a law proposed late last month by a U.S. senator,
aimed at disrupting lucrative smuggling operations that use the
reserve to move Canadian marijuana and ecstasy into New York State.

New York Senator Charles Schumer said he decided to draft the
legislation after U.S. authorities last year disrupted a marijuana
smuggling operation worth hundreds of millions of dollars that moved
Canadian-grown contraband into the U.S. through the Akwesasne Mohawk reserve.

The Democratic senator said the proposed law, dubbed the Cross Border
Reservation Drug Trafficking Sentencing Enhancement Act of 2009,
would add up to 10 years to existing drug smuggling prison sentences
if the drugs were moved across an international border through a
native reservation.

Akwesasne is about 100 kilometres west of Montreal, and sprawls
across the Ontario, Quebec and New York State borders.

The St. Lawrence River flows through Akwesasne territory. Contraband
is smuggled across the border by speedboats and personal watercraft
in the spring, summer and fall, and snowmobiles in winter.

"The geographic location of the Akwesasne and St. Regis Mohawk Indian
Reservations along the U.S.-Canada border makes them susceptible to
drug trafficking," said Schumer in a statement. "My legislation will
make drug smugglers think twice before using Indian reservations to
traffic drugs by increasing monetary fines and prison sentences for offenders."

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, which governs the Canadian side of
the reserve, said it supports Schumer's proposed law.

"It is a welcome measure and we hope that the harsher sentence should
discourage anyone from utilizing our community as a conduit for
drug-trafficking," said band council spokesman Brendan White.

The U.S. side of the reservation falls under the jurisdiction of the
St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which could not be reached for comment.

However, an RCMP officer with over a decade of experience in the
Akwesasne area said he doubted Schumer's law would have much impact
on smuggling through the territory.

"Personally, until we can manage the geographic issues with regards
to jurisdiction, I don't think any legislation will be effective,"
said Sgt. Marc LaPorte, now stationed in London, Ont. "The ability to
work in conjunction with U.S. authorities in that area ... is more
efficient than stiffer penalties."

LaPorte said the so-called "shiprider" legislation, which was
introduced by the Conservative government but died when Parliament
was prorogued last week, would have done more to help authorities
disrupt smuggling. The legislation would allow Canadian and U.S. law
enforcement officials to jointly patrol waterways like the St.
Lawrence and the Great Lakes.

The Conservative government would not comment directly on Schumer's
proposed law.

U.S. authorities have exhibited heightened interest in the Akwesasne
area in the past year. A U.S. Predator B drone was sent on
surveillance flights over the region during a trial run this past
summer and New York City's anti-drug czar recently visited the area.