SURREY CUSTOMS OFFICER NABBED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING

A 37-year-old Customs officer from Surrey allegedly flashed his badge at
his U.S. counterparts as he tried to smuggle 227 pounds of pot across the
border on Tuesday.

Altaf Merali was arrested after he drove his van with his Canada Customs
uniform hanging in a rear window up to the U.S. side of the border line,
according to a sworn statement filed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
officer Michael Donley.

However, a U.S. Customs computer program that randomly selects vehicles for
secondary inspections singled out Merali's van.

After he was pulled over, the Surrey man asked Donley if he could speak
privately with a superior, the statement said.

Merali then confessed to supervisor Roman Morin that he was carrying a
large load of B.C. bud and claimed that he had been forced to do it because
an Indo-Canadian gang had pressured him.

According to court documents, Merali also told two U.S. Customs agents that
he'd been recruited by a neighbour who repeatedly tried to set up smuggling
trips and that Merali kept backing out until the neighbour warned him the
people in the organization would hurt his family.

"He claimed a neighbour was involved and when he tried to back out, the
lives of his family were threatened," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Reese
Jennings told CTV News.

Merali claimed it was his first smuggling attempt.

The agents took Merali to a McDonald's restaurant near Bellis Fair Mall in
Bellingham, where he was supposed to deliver the pot to an American accomplice.

Washington State resident Jason Dean Smith, 20, was arrested outside the
restaurant as he tried to flee the scene in a Cadillac Escalade.

Merali and Smith made a brief appearance in U.S. District Court where they
were both ordered held in custody until a Monday bail hearing.

Outside court, Attorney General Reese Jennings commented that "it's just
unfortunate when a person in a position of trust like a Customs officer
betrays that trust."

If Merali is found guilty, he faces a minimum sentence of five years up to
a maximum of 40 years plus a $2-million fine.

A Merali neighbour in South Surrey was shocked to hear of the arrest,
describing it as "a real blow" and calling Merali, his wife and two
children "wonderful people."

It's the second time in less than a year that a Customs agent has been
arrested for smuggling pot across the B.C.-Washington State border.

Last September a U.S. Customs officer was busted with more than 500 pounds
of B.C. bud and was later sentenced to five years in jail.

- - with files from CTV News