ARRESTED MAN COULD BE MULE: RCMP

It would be a good guess that the man caught carrying an estimated $12
million worth of cocaine in Aldergrove on Nov. 21 is just a cog in an
elaborate drug scheme, says Quesnel RCMP Staff Sgt. Keith Hildebrand.

"My educated guess is that this person was a mule, working for somebody
else," said Hildebrand. "Usually, with those levels of cocaine, you're
dealing with some form of organized crime.

"It's been my experience that those kinds of instances, where they're
coming through the bottlenecks, it's usually someone on the real low end of
a drug chain that's doing it," he added.

Robert Norton Allaire, 67, of Quesnel was arrested and charged with
importing a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Allaire was first noticed by U.S. Customs officials in the Bellingham area.
Once Allaire started towards the border, they pulled him over and asked for
identification.

The driver made a dash for the Canadian border, drove over a median and
curb and across a lawn before entering Canada. Allaire was arrested in
Aldergrove roughly 45 minutes later.

Hildebrand said Quesnel RCMP's investigation will support Langley's.

"He wasn't known to us," he said. "I've got very few details on it. We're
doing a little bit of follow up here because it was brought to our
attention. They're still trying to sort it out (in Langley and the U.S.)"

Hildebrand said he contacted Langley immediately after he heard of the
incident to see if his department could go in and start doing some checks
and "not be stepping on their toes."

Hildebrand could not confirm any rumours about Allaire's business
associations in Quesnel, but added that would be something they would look at.

"We'll have to do our follow up investigation to see if it will lead
anywhere," he said. "But usually those kinds of people don't really know
who they're working for. They just get a large amount of cash to get
something through the border, which is usually the weak link in the drug
chain."

The show cause hearing for the Quesnel man accused of crashing the border
into Canada with more than $4 million worth of cocaine was put over until
Dec. 6.