LAST YEAR AT PEARSON DRUG BUSTS SET RECORD

Customs officers seized a record amount of drugs at Pearson International
Airport in 2004.

More than $135 million worth of drugs were confiscated during nearly 800
seizures last year, according to Patrizia Giolti, manager of communications
for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Everything from ecstasy to
cocaine to marijuana was kept off Mississauga streets.

Customs officers eclipsed the previous record set in 2003, when 754
seizures netted investigators more than $128 million in narcotics.

"This is a sign that we're being more vigilant and we're detecting a lot
more," said Giolti.

A few years ago, Giolti said, new methods of smuggling drugs, including
ingesting cocaine wrapped in condoms to be excreted after clearing customs,
had initially fooled inspectors.

"It may have worked at first, but when people keep doing it and our
inspectors become familiar with how to detect it, people started getting
caught," she said.