ALDERGROVE BORDER CROSSING: MP WANTS 24/7 BORDER

Langley's MP is calling for tighter border security after a drug tunnel was
discovered in Aldergrove, near the 264th St. crossing into the United
States.

The discovery of a drug tunnel in Aldergrove emphasizes the need for the
264th border crossing to be manned all the time, says Langley's MP.

MP Mark Warawa wants the local crossing, which currently closes between
midnight and 8 a.m., to be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The current closures, he said, give the impression that the border is not
being watched.

"They [the drug runners] have chosen this area because it appears secluded,"
he told the Langley Advance News on Thursday.

Canada's security along the whole border needs to be looked at "seriously,"
he said: "This shows that security has been compromised."

However, Kim Scoville of the Canada Border Services Agency, told the Advance
that there was "no indication that the border crossing played any bearing"
on the location of the tunnel.

Limited resources need to be put into areas of higher risk, he said,
pointing out that the illegal activity at the tunnel didn't happen at the
crossing itself.

Warawa made his comments after a press conference held by Canadian and
American law enforcement officials Thursday, which detailed the discovery of
the tunnel which runs from a property on Zero Ave. to a home in Lynden,
Wash.

The digging of the tunnel shows that organized crime members will go to any
lengths to get their merchandise back and forth across the border, Warawa
said.

Warawa, a Conservative, argued that the federal Liberals' plan to
decriminalize marijuana will only exacerbate the illegal movement of drugs
across the border and jeopardize Canada's relationship with the U.S.

Warawa also said he's pleased the Canadian residents arrested in connection
to the tunnel were captured in the U.S., and will face America's justice
system, not Canada's.

"I think they will pay a lot higher price in the U.S.," he said.

Prior to the discovery of the tunnel this week, Warawa has campaigned for
longer border hours, for economic purposes.