PORT POLICE SEIZE OPIUM

Officers Don't Know Who Sent Drugs In Container From Iran

New technology and a drug-sniffing dog helped uncover 48 kilograms of opium
last month in a container at the Port of Halifax.

The Canada Border Services Agency announced Wednesday that the drugs were
found Nov. 5 in a container that was loaded with furniture and on its way
to Toronto from Iran. The 48 brick-size packages of a black, tar-like
substance were wrapped in plastic and packing tape and concealed inside two
wood-panel doors.

Officials were initially suspicious of the container because of its place
of origin.

"That is a drug-producing area of the world and also there is not a lot of
commercial shipments entering Canada from that area," said Alonzo MacNeil,
chief of marine operations for the Canada Border Services Agency in Halifax.

The announcement of the seizure was put off in the interest of the
investigation, Mr. MacNeil said.

Given the initial suspicions, a drug-sniffing dog was brought in and it
indicated there were drugs inside the two doors. The suspicions were
confirmed through the use of X-ray technology.

The doors were scanned with the agency's huge new inspection system at its
headquarters.

The system, which was purchased in August and became operational in
October, can scan a pallet of materials weighing up to 2,273 kilograms
using gamma rays. It is also used to scan for weapons, illegal alcohol and
other contraband. Smaller, mobile versions are at the ports.

The agency's investigation did not lead to any arrests. The investigation
is ongoing, now led by the RCMP and other agencies.

Const. Gary Smith, spokesman for the Halifax RCMP, could not comment on the
status of the investigation or the other agencies involved.

Mr. MacNeil admitted not catching those responsible for the shipment is
frustrating.

"That's always the most difficult part of the business that we're in,
getting the arrest at the end," he said.

"Finding the drugs at the beginning is difficult as well and certainly we
try to make the arrest at the other end. But it is a very difficult task."

Mr. MacNeil said investigators do not believe there is any local
involvement in tipping off the recipients of the drugs.

He could not comment on the percentage of drugs the border services agency
is successful in intercepting.

This is the third seizure of illegal drugs by the agency's officers at the
Port of Halifax this year. Since February, they have seized over 226
kilograms of illegal drugs, mostly cocaine.

But none has led to arrests.

"That's not (a result) we strive for," Mr. MacNeil said. "But over a longer
period of time, we have had a number of arrests. A number of people who
were involved in (drug trafficking) are no longer involved in this trade."

He thinks the message the public should take from this is quite simple.

"These drugs are not on the street."

This is the first time since 2002 that opium has been seized in Halifax.

The CIA website says that opium is frequently used in the production of
morphine and heroin.

Mr. MacNeil said it's important to have public information announcements to
let the public know what the border services agency is doing.

"As a government agency, we spend a lot of the taxpayers' money trying to
achieve the overall public objective of keeping the streets safe," he said.

"We feel it's important to let the public know that we are doing the job
they pay us to do."

He added that intercepting a drug shipment is gratifying for the inspectors
who put in so much time doing inspections each day.

"It's a very difficult job," he said. "It's not a very easy task and the
inspectors who work here work very hard and inspect a lot of containers
that don't necessarily have drugs in them. So when we do make a seizure, we
certainly do like to make the public aware of it."

Mr. MacNeil said the amount of material being checked in the port has
doubled over the past two years.

He said in the past about three per cent of all containers were inspected,
but with the addition of the X-ray equipment, about seven per cent of
containers are now being checked.

About 500,000 containers a year pass through the port.