$1 MILLION BAIL SET FOR ACCUSED POT SMUGGLERS

An Oceanside resident arrested in Oregon after allegedly smuggling an
estimated $2 million worth of marijuana in an airplane is sitting in
federal prison in Eugene, Oregon on $1 million bail.

The Nov. 19 incident not only saw 56-year-old Qualicum Beach home
owner Harvey Allen Gable and 36-year-old Brian Jeffrey Lindroos, of
no fixed address facing as much as 40 years behind bars, but has also
led U.S. authorities to pay more attention to activities at small,
rural airports.

According to a report in the East Oregonian, federal authorities have
begun to look at isolated airports as possible entry ways for illegal
drugs coming into the country.

Airport authorities don't have the authority to inspect a plane or
its cargo and there is no Transportation Security Administration or
law enforcement agency on site to conduct security checks, unlike at
commercial airports.

Authorities believe methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine are smuggled
into Oregon from Mexico, while the Canadian border is subject to
smuggling of marijuana.

Many of the small, rural airports, such as the Burns Municipal
Airport where Gabel and Lindroos were arrested, have self-service
cardlock gas pumps and landing strip lights that can be turned on by
double clicking a plane's microphone while on approach. This
situation is ideal for those who wish to refuel at night without
attracting any attention.

Because of the Gabel matter, American authorities have begun sifting
through self-service fuel records at the smaller, isolated airports
in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the extent of aerial drug
smuggling in the region.

Meanwhile, Qualicum Beach airport manager Sandra Keddy says the local
facility also has a cardlock fuelling system and airport lights which
can be turned on by pilots as they land. She adds that security at
the airport consists of perimeter fencing and regular checks by
Citizens On Patrol members after hours.

"If they find anything untowards they would call the RCMP," she says.
"Of course, one would hope all our on-site leaseholders would also
contact the authorities, and we have staff out there on a regular
basis through working hours."

Keddy says she has never been aware of a need to check planes for
drugs and she questions under whose authority airport staff would be
able to do so.

For his part, Oceanside RCMP Staff Sergeant Bill Van Otterloo says
there are no systems in place to prevent drug smuggling out of the
local airport.

"I think the only time we would become involved in any type of
searching of aircraft that come into the airspace would be if we had
prior knowledge of criminal activities," he says. "We have no plans
to search planes as they leave here. That is something that would
have to be done in cooperation with a whole series of other partners
in the aviation field."