ACCUSED TUNNEL BUILDERS ARE PART OF CRIME NETWORK, RCMP ALLEGE

VANCOUVER -- Three British Columbians accused of building a tunnel under the
border to smuggle drugs into the United States are part of a network of
organized crime that rivals the Hells Angels, RCMP Inspector Pat Fogarty
alleged yesterday.

The Hells Angels is widely regarded as the benchmark for organized crime,
Insp. Fogarty said in an interview. But the bikers are well known mainly
because they identify themselves with patches on their back, he said.

"The reality is, there are many, many more, involved in activities that are
far more lucrative, and they have decided to keep themselves completely out
of the limelight," Insp. Fogarty said.

"These guys are organized crime working together to make money, no different
than what the Hells Angels are doing except they keep a very low profile,"
he alleged.

After an extensive international investigation, U.S. authorities arrested
three British Columbians on Thursday on charges of conspiracy to distribute
and import more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana into the United States
through a well-constructed tunnel from a hut on the Canadian side of the
border to a farmhouse on the U.S. side.

The accused have not responded publicly to the allegations yet.

Acquiring the properties and building the tunnel would have cost more than
$1-million, Insp. Fogarty said. The 1.2-metre by 1.2-metre tunnel, running
between one metre and three metres below the surface, was wired for lighting
and included a sump pump to drain off water regularly and a mechanical winch
to raise or lower cartloads of drugs. It is the first tunnel ever discovered
on the Canada-U.S. border.

Insp. Fogarty, who led the RCMP's combined forces special enforcement unit
during the investigation, said the police believe the people who constructed
the tunnel associated with members of organized crime networks in B.C. that
ship multimillion-dollar drug orders across the border.

"[The three accused] are very well known to police," he said.

They do not operate as part of a gang, he added. "It's organized crime using
the expertise of each other to create an infrastructure that allows them to
do what they need to do," he said.

Marijuana growers in B.C. operate independently of brokers who arrange
markets in the United States for the drugs, he said. The truckers who
transport the commodity are also independent.

"One day they woke up, or whatever, and they saw there was a market in
moving product, a huge market," he said. "What these guys decided to do,
creatively, is construct a tunnel," he alleged.

Police believe one of those arrested has some expertise in construction,
another had access to financing, he said.

Each of the three men is alleged by police to have associates in the drug
trade who would be interested in using the tunnel, he added.

They were going "to market the tunnel to the associates they know and to
others -- they are well connected in the grand scheme of things -- and they
could guarantee safe loads across that line," Insp. Fogarty said.

On the logistics of the operation, he said, "their whole infrastructure was
only to do that. One would be the marketer, one would be involved in
delivery. They did not need to grow marijuana. Their job was to move product
across the line."

Insp. Fogarty said they would have to be well connected before they started
the $1-million project. "You have to have a good history for these people to
trust you. This is such expensive commodity. . . . People are not going to
give it away unless they know who you are, you can be trusted and you have a
good system in place."

Francis Devandra Raj, Timothy Woo and Jonathan Valenzuela were arrested in
the case.

Mr. Raj, 30, owns the property where the Canadian side of the tunnel begins,
according to an affidavit signed by Tracey Mendez, a special agent in the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The RCMP says Mr. Raj has a criminal
history for possession of marijuana and immigration violations, Mr. Mendez
said.

Legal documents in Canada show that Mr. Raj leased a Ford four-wheel-drive
last year and bought the property where the tunnel begins for $595,000. Two
mortgages for $415,000 were taken out on the property. Mr. Raj is described
as a manager on the documents.

Mr. Woo, 34, is a member of Mr. Raj's organization, Mr. Mendez stated in the
affidavit. Mr. Woo was indicted in 2000 in the United States for conspiracy
to import and distribute marijuana and was a fugitive.

Mr. Valenzuela, 27, was seen delivering marijuana in Washington State and
coming out of the tunnel with Mr. Woo and Mr. Raj, Mr. Mendez stated in the
affidavit.

Previously, he had been stopped by police near the tunnel entrance. At that
time, he was with Mr. Woo and Mr. Raj and tools commonly used for digging
were found in the truck.

Mr. Valenzuela was described as a student and insurance agent on legal
documents in Canada. Revenue Canada has a lien on property he owns in Surrey
for $9,695.

Earlier this spring, the council for the building in which he lives put a
lien on the property for $2,086.

B.C. Provincial Court records show that Mr. Woo has been fined $1,500 in New
Westminster court for providing false documentation in 1999.

A charge of possession of a controlled substance against Mr. Valenzuela in a
Surrey court in 2000 was stayed.

A charge of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking against Mr. Raj was dismissed in Kamloops in 2001. However, Mr.
Raj received a suspended sentence on a charge of possession in Burnaby in
2001 and was found guilty and fined for possession in Burnaby for a case
that began in 2000.