WITH CROSS-BORDER POLICING SET TO EXPAND, MOUNTIES FRET OVER WHO CALLS SHOTS

A handful of Canadian police officers are
operating as armed federal law enforcement
officers in the United States, part of a
little-known experiment in cross-border policing
that will be widely expanded under the new security plan announced
Wednesday.

But while local and provincial police agencies
are happy to see their officers operate in the
States, the two federal agencies in charge of
border integrity the RCMP and the Canadian
Border Security Agency want to make sure it's
not the Americans who call all the shots in future.

=93We think the model is good,=94 said one senior
Homeland Security official who requested
anonymity because of the delicate negotiations.
=93BEST works =96 and it's really hard to put the genie back in the
bottle.=94

Since its inception in 2008, the Buffalo unit has
made close to 300 arrests =96 more than a third of
them Canadians according to BEST officials =96 and
seized weapons, drugs and $2.5-million in Canadian and American currency.

Canadian officers on the Buffalo BEST team have
travelled as far afield as Georgia and California
as part of their investigations, which often end
up with arrested Canadians surprised to discover
that one of the people interrogating them is a Canadian cop.

=93`Holy s---, what are you doing here?' is the
reaction,=94 said Det. Sgt. Adamczyk. =93Like a deer
in the headlights. It's a shock.=94

He said that makes it a lot harder for Canadian
suspects caught in the States to lie or dissemble
about their connections or activities back home =96
and also allows Canadian cops to trace back the
crime trail, making arrests and seizures north of the border.

In the cramped second-floor quarters of the BEST
team, it's hard to tell the Canadians from the
Americans except for the occasional personal
flourishes in their cubicles =96 a Tim Horton's
calendar featuring Sydney Crosby or a picture of
a cheering U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Even those national distinctions fade away when
the specially-authorized Canadians join the
Americans in surveillance, making arrests and interrogating suspects.

=93They roll with us, they hit the doors when we
do,=94 said Vincent Salvatore, an assistant special
agent with the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland
Security and one of two ICE supervisors of the Buffalo BEST team.

=93A lot of the guys that I used to work with bug
me that I got the Jack Bauer job,=94 said Detective
Shaun Genovy of the Toronto police, referring
half-jokingly to the television hero famous for
busting bad guys =96 and the rules.

The BEST members say their teamwork allows
investigators to launch almost simultaneous
arrests of drug smuggling networks on both sides
of the border, when before a takedown in one
country might tip off crime partners in another.

In October, the BEST team wrapped up a six-month
undercover operation that led to the arrest of an
American and an Ontario man on charges of
smuggling powerful prescription narcotic pain
killers from Canada, much sought after by American drug abusers.

In 2010, Det. Sgt. Adamczyk helped co-ordinate
Project Takeout, which saw undercover officers on
both sides of the border unravel a cocaine,
ecstasy and heroin smuggling ring that used
inflatable rafts to ship contraband drugs from as
far away as Europe and Colombia across the Niagara waterways.

Twelve of the 16 Canadians arrested have pleaded guilty so far.

=93I've seen the gutter,=94 said Det. Sgt.
Adamczyk. =93When you've seen 16 year old girls in
Canada selling themselves for a rock of cocaine
and you see these guys making millions and
millions of dollars, it feels good to take out the major players.=94