MILITARY INSTRUMENTAL IN DRUG BUST

The Canadian Forces played a key role in the March 6 drug bust of
sailboat Huntress in Port Hardy. By tipping off the RCMP of suspected
illegal activity, RCMP were able to arrest the drug runners and seize
1,001 kilograms of cocaine - worth hundreds of millions of dollars on
the street.

This is one of the largest drug busts in British Columbia
history.

"I am very proud of the staff of the Regional Joint Operations Centre
whose sharp instincts were central to the success of the RCMP
investigation," said Capt (N) Les Falloon, Assistant Chief of Staff
Operations (J3). "This operation is typical of what your Canadian
Forces does, day in and day out."

It began on the evening of March 5 when a Canadian Forces contracted
sovereignty patrol flight soaring high above Northern Vancouver Island
spotted a 50-foot double mast sailing vessel.

"In accordance with normal procedure they hailed the vessel, calling
by voice radio asking for the sailboat's identity, its port of
registration and last port of call," explained Capt (N) Falloon. "The
vessel identified itself as Huntress, but the other responses were
unsatisfactory because they were inconsistent or unanswered."

Something didn't seem right, so the air crew called the suspicious
behaviour into the Regional Joint Operations Centre (RJOC) for further
investigation.

"On a typical day, the RJOC is tracking about a thousand ships in the
Pacific Ocean approaches to Canada. Most of those ships are going
about their lawful business. A few are not," said Capt(N) Falloon.

Seven additional CF members were called into the RJOC at Dockyard's
D100 to further analyze this vessel. It turned out the ship was coming
from Panama and bound for Port Hardy.

"These factors proved to be the triggers that got the RCMP involved
and led to this drug bust," said Capt(N) Falloon.

CF members at the RJOC contacted the RCMP through the interagency
Marine Security Operations Centre, which is co-located within the same
building.

Once the RCMP took over the investigation, they asked CF air
surveillance to maintain radar contact and report their findings.

Early the next morning as Huntress sailed into Port Hardy, RCMP met
and arrested two individuals. Both have now been formally charged with
possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Thirty seven duffel bags of drugs were recovered. Each contained
kilogram-sized packets wrapped in plastic and sealed with gun tape.

"All Canadians can be proud of the team work and professionalism of
all the agencies involved: the crews of the surveillance aircraft, the
staff in the RJOC and our security partners in the MSOC," said Capt(N)
Falloon.

Not unlike the incident last October when the illegal migrant vessel
Ocean Lady was detected and intercepted, these are examples of how the
Canadian Forces work together with our federal security partners.
"Your Canadian Forces is on watch everyday for Canadians, continuously
monitoring developments across North America as part of the Canada
First Defence Strategy," he added.